Chapter 581 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

Dayson whistled loudly, making Talia wince.

‘Which room are you in?’, Dayson asked with urgency. ‘I’m coming to pick you up, and we can leave this pack run business to others to handle.’

Talia giggled. ‘Thank you, Dayson.’ She needed that boost in confidence that only he could provide. And she was super happy that he got to see her, and he approved.

Talia glanced at the time before releasing a sharp breath. ‘It’s almost time.’, she told Dayson.

‘I will wait for your signal that things are ready, and then I will find you.’, Dayson responded. ‘After that, it will be just the two of us and our wolves.’

Talia felt Liseli leaping with joy. ‘Liseli is looking forward to meeting Sapa again.’

‘Me too, kitten. I gotta go now. Gideon says it’s time for a speech and Jaeden and I need to be there.’

‘I will see you soon.’, Talia responded as Maya was telling Mindy that it was time to go.

This was a sign for Talia that she needed to start moving also.

Talia and Zina walked out of the room to be greeted by Keith, Liam, Pierce, Caleb, Sandy, and Lulu who bowed respectfully.

All six of them wore ceremonial clothes and had patterns drawn on their skin with black paint, similar to what Talia saw on Dayson. They also had impressive necklaces made out of teeth.

Talia noticed that Keith had the most drawings on his body among her guards.

“What do those patterns represent?”, Talia asked Keith, genuinely curious.

Keith puffed his chest proudly. “These are for challenges I won against worthy opponents.” And also, fights against rogues and for lives taken, but he didn’t want to sully Talia’s ears with harsh words.

Keith enjoyed the way Talia looked at the drawings that adorned his body, and he appreciated the fact that Talia didn’t see him as a pampered trainer, but as a capable warrior he was.

He knew that Talia was mated to Dayson and that harboring those feelings inside his heart was futile, but there was nothing he could do about it other than to protect Talia with everything he’s got and to step away when Dayson was nearby because seeing Talia happy with another man was too painful to bear.

Keith wondered if this was the Moon Goddess’ plan all along, to turn him into a faithful dog who will follow his master with the hope to get praise.

Unaware of Keith’s thoughts, Talia commented on the drawings on his body. “You won many fights.” She turned to look at the rest of her guards. “You all did. I am lucky to have you keeping me safe.”

Talia noticed that her guards were looking at Zina curiously, so she explained, “Zina will be coming with us. I need to do something during the ceremony and her assistance will be necessary.”

They were all surprised that Talia will be absent from the ceremony.

“Where are we going?”, Keith asked.

“I’m not sure.”, Talia admitted. “It’s related to the full moon and Shaman said that it will show me the way.”

It was not Gideon, but it was Evanora, but Talia didn’t want to go into details.

Zina’s role was to accompany Talia and to communicate with Maya and Jaeden via mind-link so that the Beta duo knows what’s the status on Talia’s side, and for Talia to know what was going on at the ceremony.

Keith and the other five guards didn’t know about Dayson’s condition. Dayson didn’t want more than necessary people to know about him being impacted by the dark magic, and Talia agreed. If the news spread that Dayson was attacked by the Oracle from the Midnight Guardians pack, all kinds of trouble might ensue, and they wanted to avoid animosity among the two packs because of a few malicious individuals.

The party of eight exited the packhouse to be met by a river of people who were moving toward them, parting in the middle to pass on the left and right sides of the packhouse. Those were members of the Shadow Fang pack, all of them in traditional clothes and good spirits, some carrying flowers to leave as offerings at the ceremonial altar that was set up behind the garden, and Talia really regretted that she will miss this event.

“Next time, we will join them.”, Zina said to Talia.

Talia turned to look at her friend. “Am I that obvious?”

Zina shook her head. “We are all feeling the same, but you are easy to read. Let’s accomplish this task so that we are not missing the event of the decade for naught.”

“Thank you, Zina.”, Talia said. “It means a lot to have you here with me.” It really did. She knew that Keith and the other five were there because Dayson ordered them, but Zina was there as a friend.

Talia remembered Dayson’s words about how only people close to her can backstab her, and she looked at the seven people around her. Six of them were her guards, but Talia considered all of them her friends, and she couldn’t imagine that any of them would betray her.

She was their Alpha, and their betrayal wouldn’t be petty things like stealing the best-looking dessert, but serious matters that could impact her safety, and Dayson’s, and the safety of the whole pack, and Talia’s heart cracked at the thought that any of them would be willing to go that far. She knew that Dayson’s concerns were not made up, but she hoped that he was wrong, at least about these people.

With a deep breath to steel her resolve, Talia walked forward with Zina, and six guards circled them. They blended with the other people perfectly, except for the fact that they were moving in the opposite direction.

Talia turned to the left, emerging from the river the crowd created. Once the clamor died behind them, Talia closed her eyes and chanted the words that Evanora taught her to improve her sensitivity to nature and help her see the path that will lead her to the optimal location for the ritual. A few seconds later, Talia allowed her instincts to guide her, and she moved slowly at first, but her every next step came with more confidence that she knew where she was going.

Back in the packhouse, Dayson was standing at the window of the living room with his hands clasped behind his back and looking out to see the crowd gathering to fill up the clearing beyond the garden and overfilling in every direction. Those were his people, excited and happy, and he really wished that Talia was by his side so that they can enjoy this scene together, but he feared that if they meet now, it would be nearly impossible to separate. He had a task to do, and so did Talia, and soon they will reunite. Soon.

Cornelia peered into the living room to see James who was wearing skimpy ceremonial clothes that were held by one string around his waist, allowing the leather garment to reach half of his thighs. She never saw him exposed like that, up close, and she was not sure if he was really the most handsome man she had ever seen, or if that was the soulmate bond messing with her eyesight and with her reasoning.

James turned to look at Cornelia and she clearly saw his eyes widening as he took in her form.

Before Cornelia could react, James was in front of her, holding her hand and pulling her into the living room.

“You are stunning”, James said breathily. She really was.

James wanted to scoop Cornelia in his arms and take her to a place with privacy and stay there forever, but their forever was uncertain and for the first time in his life James really wished that he had the Alpha aura strong enough to protect Cornelia from everything bad in the world, or maybe that he was born as a no one important so that his father won’t care about him.

James knew that they were stuck with the reality where he was James Redmayne, the future Alpha of the Red Moon pack without an Alpha aura, and he was facing the most beautiful woman in the world who was his mate and who squirmed under his hungry gaze, and somehow… she made his heart sing, which was not a bad thing, not even a little bit.

James chuckled. “You are lovely when you blush.”

“I’m not blushing.”, Cornelia said quickly.

James lifted her hand to place small kisses on her knuckles. “Whatever you say, gorgeous.”

Jaeden whistled loudly. “Who said that teens don’t have their courting game on?”

James knew that this jab was directed at him, but he couldn’t care less. His chocolate-colored Goddess was in front of him, and nothing else mattered. He didn’t want to allow dark thoughts about his father to spoil this moment, and compared to that, Jaeden’s teasing was nothing.

“Maybe you should look at your mate, and not at teens.”, Maya said from the door, getting Jaeden’s full attention.

Jaeden grinned at Maya. “I see that the Moon Goddess gave me her blessings early.” He sashayed toward Maya and pulled her close to him, making sure that their hips were connected firmly so she can feel that he was hard already.

“Tonight, we make pups.”, Jaeden’s breath splashed against her ear.

Maya burst into giggles and pushed him away, but without any strength, careful not to make smudges of the black patterns that still didn’t dry on his skin.

Mindy made a beeline toward Gideon and twirled on her toes so that he can see her from every angle. “What do you think?”

“I fear I will forget the steps for the ritual.”, Gideon said.

Mindy didn’t get it. “Nonsense. We practiced more than once. But just in case, I will stand close to you and whisper if you forget something.”

Gideon chuckled. “The closer you are, the more I will forget.”

Mindy stifled a laugh when she realized that he will forget steps of the ritual because of her. “I take that as you approve of your mate in this outfit.”

“I approve of you without an outfit, just how mother nature intended, but this will do.”, Gideon said with a straight face, but the twinkle in his eyes spoke about mischief and all the X-rated things he wanted to do with Mindy.

Mindy slapped his shoulder playfully. “Come on, we should go out first. People are waiting.”

Mindy was nervous. For everyone else, this was the ceremony before the pack run, but for her, it was also the ceremony where she will officially become a member of the Shadow Fang pack. She wished that Maddox and her parents were present, but she knew that according to ancient customs of werewolves when a she-wolf finds her mate, he becomes her family. Mindy’s family didn’t want to cut their ties with her completely, and she loved that part, but she still missed them.

A pair of strong arms circled Mindy’s waist from behind.

“How about tomorrow you call your brother and decide on a good time for us to visit your family?”, Gideon asked.

Mindy craned her neck to look at him. “Are you serious?”

Gideon kissed the tip of her nose. “I am serious about getting to know the family where my spitfire mate grew up. Who knows, maybe we will get along? I have a suit and a necktie, and I wonder if it still fits me well.”

Mindy smiled and leaned into him. Somehow, his words made her miss her family a bit less. “I will call Max tomorrow.”

Dawn peeked into the room in time to see Gideon and Mindy stepping out through the side door.

Dawn’s whole world stopped as she gaped at George. His torso was exposed, showing not only the tattoo on his chest but also numerous patterns that were drawn with black paint, telling stories of fights worthy of an Alpha that was presenting himself as a Commander from the Red Moon pack. Dawn was confident that only Dayson had more artwork on his body, but she couldn’t look away from George to compare and confirm.

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