Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Mindy was grateful that Talia was not pressuring her for a response, but she had a few questions of her own. “Lia, how will you balance your Luna role in the Shadow Fang pack with your Alpha position in the Midnight Guardians pack?”
“I’m not sure. Do I need to give up one? On the other side, I doubt I can have both roles.” This was more than just balancing conflicting interests. Did she have the time and resources to take on both roles with the dedication they require?
“There is always an option to merge packs.”, Mindy suggested.
Talia loved the idea but, “Dayson is being targeted because other Alphas fear that he is too powerful. Imagine their reaction if our two packs merge into one.”
Mindy understood what Talia was saying, however, “Eventually, they will find out that Luna of the Shadow Fang pack is also the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack. Considering that the two of you are fated mates, merging your two packs will be only a matter of formality.”
Talia’s intention was to abdicate her position as the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack for Axel to have it. She was not interested in titles and if Axel was doing all the work, he should get the credits as well. However, every time Talia thought about stepping down as the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, her heart tightened painfully, as if something really bad will happen if she made such a move.
“Ideally, we would find a way to live with other packs and erase borders, or at least to stop thinking of each other as competition. We are all werewolves with common goals. But I know that is just wishful thinking.”, Talia said. “To answer your question, I don’t know what to do. I will think about it and gather opinions. I’m sure we will come up with something that works for everyone.”
“Can you tell me what challenges you are facing with Gideon?” Talia was genuinely interested. For Talia, staying with Dayson was normal. Can it be more difficult to be Shaman’s mate compared to Alpha’s?
Mindy didn’t want to talk about her and Gideon, but Talia was her friend and Mindy thought that even if Talia can’t help, she can listen, and that meant a lot.
“Most of our talks are related to where we are going to live. Gideon’s current place provides privacy, but it’s lacking many amenities and it’s far from everything so it’s not convenient as a permanent location. We discussed moving closer to Darkbourne, but we need a house with several rooms and enough land for him to plant his garden and to provide privacy, and some of those requirements are clashing. I didn’t understand the privacy part until I saw how Nina was acting friendly with him. She was arranging the herbs I prepared, like she belonged there! Now I fear that when people find out we are close to town, everyone will come and act like they are in their own home. That’s why I asked how long we can stay in the packhouse. No one dares to seek him here and I will appreciate it if we can intrude until we figure out something that will work…” Mindy’s voice trailed when she realized that she was blabbering. “I’m sorry. I need to stop oversharing.”
“Nonsense!”, Talia exclaimed. Considering the war-sparking issues she was facing so far, Talia thought that Mindy’s problems were not a big deal. “First, you are not intruding. Second, I think I have a perfect house for you.”
“You do?”
Talia nodded confidently. “It’s a new construction with three bedrooms upstairs, and plenty of unused land around it. Gideon can make a garden as big as he needs, and you can even expand the house if you wish. It’s about five minutes from here, so you are close to town while not actually being IN the town.”
Talia was talking about the house where George and Marcy were staying after George accepted Marcy’s rejection. Dayson told Talia that the house was unoccupied, and there were a few similar houses further from the packhouse. They used them when someone needed to stay temporarily and the packhouse was not appropriate, like for a family of refugees.
Mindy shook her head, rejecting the idea. “That won’t help with people coming over and treating my home as a bus station.”
“I’m not done.”, Talia said. “No one needs to know where you live. Gideon can get himself an office in town where he will meet people who need advice, medicine, or whatever service he is providing. Appointments in advance will ensure that he is there when needed, and only your friends can know where you actually live. As a benefit of being close to the packhouse, guards will prevent any uninvited guests from intruding on your time.”
Talia could see that Mindy was considering it, so she pushed a bit more, “If I was you, I would give it a try. In the worst case, it won’t work, and you need to keep searching, but living in that house will give you a better understanding of what you need. If it’s a total failure, you are always welcome to return here. I will keep the room ready for you. What do you think?”
“As a benefit, I will be close to work with you.”
“Work, fun, hanging out, call it any way you want. I will pay you fairly and it will come with benefits.”, Talia grinned. “But I won’t ask you to be available 24/7 as my aide. We can decide if it’s every day, every other day, how many hours…”
Talia stopped talking when Mindy gave her a hug.
“I knew it’s a good move to befriend Luna of the pack.”, Mindy said and both of them burst into giggles.
Talia was genuinely happy. Only a few weeks ago, the idea of being Dayson’s Luna was overwhelming, but now she had Zina and Rose to help in the packhouse, and with Mindy accepting to be by her side, it was not so scary anymore.
OK. Mindy didn’t accept yet, but Talia had a feeling that it was only a matter of time.
As for being the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, Talia decided to deal with that later.
Talia and Dayson didn’t talk on their way to the pack hospital.
Dayson didn’t like Talia showing care for the wretched Coach, but he also felt that it wouldn’t be right to tell her not to. After all, the guy got hurt because he was defending Talia.
Dayson wanted Talia to have guards, someone to watch her back, and he told her to pick them and she did, but now Dayson wondered if that was a good idea.
Last night, five of them went against Dayson, their Alpha. Was that acceptable? No one EVER went against him without suffering consequences. These were his pack members; he expected loyalty and not mutiny. At the same time, Dayson disapproved that Lulu hid behind a tree when Dayson was proving that he was at the top of the hierarchy for a reason. Was Lulu hiding because defending Talia meant going against Dayson, or because she wouldn’t treat Talia’s safety as a priority?
Can he just send them back to survival training? But if he does that, who will be Talia’s guards? Dayson could easily pick a handful of loyal warriors, but they wouldn’t be loyal to Talia, and she wouldn’t trust them and… nothing seemed right.
Dayson tried peering into Talia’s emotions, but she closed them off and her expression told him that she was thinking about something intently. Was she blaming him? Probably.
…
Keith was lying in the hospital bed and staring at the ceiling while Katya was telling him about the ceremony and the pack run he missed.
Everyone who was able went for the pack run. It was the event of the decade. Many brought drinks and snacks in advance and kept them at certain points in the forest, and they gathered there after the run was over to celebrate first run in their generation with Dayson as their Alpha. Mates were eager to find solitude, and some found their mates. The mated pack members didn’t mingle with single souls, but those who were single didn’t spend the night being lonely either.
The Shifters nightclub was closed which meant that Katya lost one night of earnings, but she didn’t care. She was obviously excited.
Keith normally loves listening to his sister, but this time he was distracted. Images of Dayson pinning Talia to the ground and mistreating her were etched in Keith’s mind and he was angry that it happened and he couldn’t help Talia.
Talia didn’t deserve such treatment.
If he was stronger, if he had the Alpha aura, Keith would be able to protect the only woman who stirred his heart instead of being stuck to the ground and watching it helplessly. He hated himself.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Keith blinked when he realized that Katya asked him something. “What?”
“You were not listening. Do you want to talk about whatever is on your mind?”, Katya asked. And she had a good idea that Talia was on Keith’s mind.
Keith didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m just wondering if I need to waste a day here. I have so many things to do.”
“Like guarding our Luna?”, Katya asked in a teasing voice.
Keith’s brows came together to form a frown. “Yes. That’s my job.”
Katya made a ‘I-don’t-believe-you’ face. “It’s more than a job. You can’t lie to your sister.”
Keith released a long breath. “What do you want me to say?”
“I hope you know what you are doing.”, Katya said. “I am aware that you changed since meeting Talia, but she is not Talia anymore. She is our Luna, Alpha’s fated mate.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“I don’t know, Keith. Do you know that?”
Keith gritted his teeth. “You were not there, Katya. You didn’t see how he treated her. Talia is not happy.”
“If she is not happy, why is she not leaving him?”, Katya asked.
“Do you think it’s easy to leave Alpha?”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.