Chapter 17
Marcus and his guards headed to the library now. Marcus had no books to read in mind. His main purpose was to pour his heart out to Linnaeus, the old librarian who he had befriended.
The library wasn't far from Marcus's present location so Marcus had no problem in getting there as fast as he could.
No sooner had they set off, they got to the library. The library belonged only to the Alpha and the only person who remained there was the old librarian, Master Linnaeus. Also, the Luna and the Beta of the pack also had express permission to use the library in critical cases.
Anyway, Marcus entered the library without any qualms. The guards couldn't follow him in so they had to stay outside. The interior of the library was cool enough and just from the entrance, Marcus could see the old librarian seated on a chair and reading an old book which he had seen him read the past few days.
"Marcus!" The old librarian called. He had been given the right to address Marcus using his real name with no regard that he was the 'Alpha' of the pack. The reason was a well-known one. In childhood, Master Linnaeus was the one who taught Marcus how to read and write. They maintained a teacher-student relationship till date not minding the fact that the goalposts had shifted considerably.
"Yes, Master Linnaeus!" Marcus replied. He had a smile on his face. This was a smile of relaxation. Master Linnaeus was not only a wise person, he also had a long record of providing solutions in tough cases. Marcus was certain that Master Linnaeus would be able to help him out.
Master Linnaeus watched Marcus closely as he came nearer. Marcus had a tired look on his face and this was enough to worry Master Linnaeus.
"What is it, Marcus? I don't like your facial expression at all…" Master Linnaeus said slowly. His face crisped up in a wrinkle and this showed the fact that he was worried about Marcus.
"I have had a long day…" Marcus confessed. "It has not only been long. It's been stressful as well. The whole mansion has been in turmoil. You should know all that has happened."
Master Linnaeus watched Marcus carefully while he made this statement. Truth be told, Master Linnaeus had no idea about what Marcus was talking about. He knew no turmoil had happened in the mansion.
"What do you mean, Marcus? What turmoil happened? I don't think I understand you at all, Marcus…" Master Linnaeus said carefully. He meant every word that came out of his mouth.
Marcus gazed at Master Linnaeus in worry. He couldn't believe his ears. How could someone living in the Alpha's mansion not know what had happened that day? The information that Luna had died and later woke up wasn't ordinary news. It had spread like wildfire not only in the pack's environment. It had gone viral all through other packs who had different dealings with the Driftwood pack. In fact, almost all of the packs already knew about this. Now, how could someone living at the location where it happened failed to know what happened? It sounded like something amiss somewhere.
"Wait!" Marcus began. "Don't tell me that you haven't heard that my Luna and I were attacked earlier today!"
Master Linnaeus looked at Marcus strangely in shock. He had not heard about that.
"What! You were attacked! Who were the attackers? Have they been caught? Are you okay? I hope the pack's Luna is not wounded?" Master Linnaeus asked quickly. He was continually showering Marcus with questions.
But Marcus wasn't going to allow him to cover his ignorance with other questions. He was ready to get Master Linnaeus to answer the most important question which he was shying away from.
"Calm down, Master Linnaeus. Right now, I feel like you are trying not to answer a certain question which you should answer," Marcus said slowly. He was looking at Master Linnaeus in suspicion. The atmosphere was still cool in between them.
Master Linnaeus seemed to have understood Marcus but he failed to accept that. Instead, he played around with words.
"What do you mean? What question are you talking about? Remember that you haven't told me if Rose is fine. I want to know if all is well before I answer any of your questions…" Master Linnaeus said carefully. He was doing this purposely. This wasn't only to get himself away from answering that one delicate question. Truthfully speaking, Master Linnaeus was worried about the Luna of the pack, Rose.
"All I can see you still doing is playing around words. You are only trying to get me to forget what I want to ask you. I know you are smart, Master, but I will definitely outsmart you today…" Marcus said slowly. He had a smile on his face as he said this.
"Really?" Master Linnaeus began to ask. He was ready for the challenge. "I love the fact that you called me 'master'. I am your master no matter how old you grow or what position you find yourself and you see, I have never seen a situation where the disciple outsmart his master. It's always a bid to try. I have never heard it work for the disciple."
Marcus began to laugh loudly. His laughter was not that of happiness but of excitement. This was going to be a challenge and Marcus was excited to participate. He wasn't really happy about it though since he had more serious matters. Anyway, he was ready to go ahead.
"Really?" Marcus began with a smile still edged on his face. "I guess the disciple wasn't so smart. A wise disciple like me won't have any problem with outsmarting everyone in the world including my master."
Now, it was Master Linnaeus turn to laugh. He would look at Marcus and laugh the more.
"Really?" Master Linnaeus asked tenderly. "Are you sure you are really that smart? I don't think you would have came here if you had all the answers of the world in your grasp."
This statement touched Marcus's heart. He couldn't deny that fact.