Chapter 824 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

‘Know about what, father?’

‘That Alpha Dayson and Alpha Natalia are this close?’

‘I never met Alpha Natalia, so I wouldn’t know. But our reports said they are close without details on their relationship. Do you want me to ditch this group and investigate?’

‘No. Keep what you were doing. I will take care of this,’ Alpha Edward responded.

James couldn’t believe that his father still didn’t connect that Talia is Alpha Natalia from the Midnight Guardians pack. Sure, Talia would put some makeup on when she came out as Alpha Natalia, and she would lift her hair into a stylish bun, but it was still the same person.

There was also the possibility of Alpha Edward denying the possibility of Dayson being mated to Alpha Natalia, to the point of not seeing what was right in front of his eyes.

…

“Alpha Dayson,” a gravely male voice reached them, and Dayson’s expression tightened.

“Elder Parker.” Dayson didn’t bother with a fake smile. He didn’t like the old guy.

Elder Parker bowed before calling, “Alpha Natalia.” His eyes lingered at the point where Dayson was holding her. “I don’t think we’ve met. I am Elder Parker of the Red Moon pack. I heard many things about you. It’s such an honor for you to grace us with your presence.”

Without waiting for Talia’s response, Elder Parker turned to Dayson. “I thought you will attend this event with your Luna.”

“I am,” Dayson responded, completely aware that almost everyone was listening.

Elder Parker’s smile fell in slow motion to be replaced with utter shock. “Are you saying that you… and Alpha Natalia…”

Dayson cocked an eyebrow at him. “I am surprised you didn’t know about it. It’s not like we were hiding it, and we already attended so many events together.”

Elder Parker had difficulty accepting it. “But your Luna’s name is… Talia.”

“My fated mate’s name is Natalia Moonrider. Most people call her Talia, and her friends call her Lia. It is the same person. Did your eyes stop working considering your advanced age?”

“But… but…” Elder Parker stuttered while looking at Talia in disbelief. “You are…”

“I am Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, and I am Luna of the Shadow Fang pack,” Talia said like it was a totally normal thing, and then she narrowed her eyes at Elder Parker. “Do you have a problem with it?”

If anyone pretended to talk, now they dropped it as only music was heard in the event hall. No one moved a muscle.

Elder Parker gaped at Talia. A sudden chill enveloped his body, preventing him from moving a muscle.

‘What’s his problem?’ Talia asked Dayson through their mind-link.

‘Uhm… Elder Parker was one of the biggest advocates for Marcy to be my Luna.’

Talia’s expression darkened. She thought that the old geezer came to talk, to get more information. Did he come to try to push Marcy or some other woman on Dayson because he assumed that Dayson left his Luna behind?

‘We should get rid of these pompous bastards who think they can control others!’ Liseli raged.

‘If we do that, not many will be left,’ Talia responded. ‘Besides, we have bigger fish to fry tonight. This guy is just bitter that he didn’t get his way.’

“Excuse us,” Mindy said to Elder Parker impatiently. “You either have something to talk about, or get out of our way.” She didn’t like the old guy blocking their path, and her pregnancy hormones made her temper flare.

Seeing that Elder Parker didn’t move, Tyler stepped forward and extended his arm to push the male to the side before gesturing to Dayson and Talia that they can go ahead.

Dayson had a destination on his mind. On the right was a bar, and he spotted Maddox and Tony there.

Kalina and Tatiana were at one table with Lidia who came with her mate, General Jordan, as part of the delegation from the Spring Leaf pack.

They all had their tasks. Cornelia went to greet the Wilkow sisters. Through casual chatter, masked as talking to Lunas of two packs, Cornelia will hear if they detected anything suspicious. Mindy and Gideon went to search for the Shaman of the Red Moon pack. Sandy and Tyler took a seat at the table that had a good view of the bar.

Keith and Arya were sticking close to Talia, just how Dayson ordered them to.

“What a way to break the news,” Tony said while greeting Dayson and Talia. “I think Alpha Richard’s jaw is on the floor.”

“I am surprised that only one foolish soul blocked your way,” Maddox chimed in. “Who do you think sent him?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not every day that two Alphas come out as a mated couple,” Dayson said proudly while looking at Talia with sparkles in his eyes. He was truly happy. “What will you drink, kitten?”

“I feel like something sour,” Talia said, and Dayson waved at the waiter to receive instructions for drinks.

Talia was aware of many eyes on them, but she didn’t care. Coming out with Dayson and saying openly they were a mated couple felt like a huge burden fell off her chest.

Talia’s hair was up to expose Dayson’s mark on her neck, and her mark on his neck was also visible for everyone to see that Dayson and Talia accepted each other as equals.

Their entrance went smoothly, and Talia knew that people were still in shock. Soon, they will snap out of it, and the real show will begin.

Luckily, they had a number of close friends in attendance; otherwise, Talia would be worried about other Alphas banding against them. The possibility of the Shadow Fang pack and Midnight Guardians pack merging as one would be perceived as dangerous to many others. Dayson had numbers and strength, and Talia had mysterious powers. They could easily suppress any other pack.

‘I want to greet Talia,’ Dawn whined into the pack link for Zina to hear.

‘Me too,’ Zina responded.

Two friends were at the party with Owen who was standing next to them with his hands deep in his trouser pockets as a reminder that he shouldn’t hug the chamomile-infused goddess by his side. Owen was under the impression that the hardest thing would be to keep lecherous people away from Zina, but now he understood that the biggest challenge for him was to control his urge to whisk Zina away. Since they arrived, they caught a few people looking at them curiously, but none approached them. Yet.

‘At least you are with your mate,’ Dawn said to Zina wistfully while looking in the direction where George was. He wore black trousers and a white shirt, and Dawn wanted to go there and cling to him so everyone would know he was taken.

‘You think I’m having an easier time because Owen is here pretending to be YOUR mate?’

Dawn pressed her lips into a line. She wanted to make a point that there was no physical contact between Owen and her, but she knew that it wouldn’t make it any better for Zina, who was enduring this situation while resisting the urges of her newly formed bond.

Dawn remembered that for the first few days after marking, the only thing on her mind was sticking to George so she could feel those addictive sparks… actually, even now, she wanted that, but she learned to control her impulses to a certain degree.

‘We are in this together, Zi,’ Dawn said. ‘Just a bit more. We don’t know if Alpha Edward will approach us, but we need to stay here until George says it’s safe to leave without making it suspicious.’

‘Let’s go to the bar,’ Zina suggested. ‘Like that, we can be closer to Talia.’

‘But we can’t talk to her. If people suspect we are from the Shadow Fang pack…’

‘I know,’ Zina said. ‘Just being nearby will make me feel better.’

They could mind-link Talia, but they guessed that Talia had too much on her plate already. Besides, Dayson and Talia made it clear that Owen and Zina needed to show that they could stand on their own and not be a burden.

“Can we go to a bar?” Dawn asked Owen. Before coming here, they agreed that Dawn and Owen would do the talking because whenever Owen and Zina interacted, it was impossible to miss the lovey-dovey mood.

Owen had no objections to getting a drink or two.

Owen didn’t like that Zina covered up his mark with makeup, but he knew it was necessary. He wondered at what point will all this blow into their faces. Only an idiot wouldn’t notice that any type of communication between Dawn and him was forced, and that was NOT how mates behaved.

To make this charade convincing, Owen should put his arm around Dawn, but his wolf strongly objected to that idea. Also, putting a hand on Dawn meant saying goodbye to that part of his body because… George. And Owen wouldn’t blame him because he would do anything to protect Zina.

They found two unoccupied barstools for Zina and Dawn, and Owen stood between them protectively.

“What will you have, ladies?” The bartender asked with a smile that froze when he saw Owen glowering at him. “Lieutenant Owen, what can I get for you?”

Owen had an urge to punch the bartender, and then he wanted to give the first order to Zina, but he couldn’t do that because, in the Red Moon pack, warriors come first. “I will have a beer. As for the ladies…” Zina and Dawn ordered for themselves.

“You are doing great,” Dawn gave Owen a few words of encouragement.

“You too,” Owen responded, and Dawn flicked her head to look in the direction where George was, even though Owen didn’t look that way.

Dawn’s insides flipped when she saw that George was talking to a curvaceous blonde. The female in question had a black dress that was too tight and too short, and she had too much makeup on, and her smile directed at George stirred something murderous in Dawn. The only things keeping Dawn in her place were the fact that George didn’t smile at the female, and there were a few other people in that group.

“Who is that?” Dawn asked in a low voice.

Owen didn’t need more information to know about whom Dawn was inquiring. “I don’t know.”

“That’s Penelope from the Night Sentinel pack,” Zina said.

Dawn’s brows came together when she recognized the name. “Alpha William’s daughter?”

“Mhm,” Zina confirmed. “If you look to the left, you will see that he is right there, eavesdropping on his daughter’s conversation with Commander George.”

Dawn didn’t care about Alpha William. She couldn’t stop staring at the woman who was shamelessly flirting with her mate! “Why is she sticking to my…”

‘KHM-KHM!’

Owen loudly cleared his throat to cover up Dawn’s next words.

Dawn jolted when Zina pinched her arm while tilting her head toward the bartender who was placing their drinks on the bar counter.

“This is young Alpha’s birthday,” Owen spoke to Dawn in his official tone. “High-ranking members from many packs are in attendance, and this is more than just a birthday event.”

Zina thought that Owen was fantastic. She wanted to hug and kiss him all over, but she forced herself to focus on her friend, who was clearly in distress.

‘Dawn?’ Zina called through the pack link. ‘Are you OK? You know that George wouldn’t betray your bond, right? He is just talking because he is a Commander. If he shuts down, it would be bad, and if he came here, it would be worse. It’s just a few hours, and then things will be back to normal.’

Dawn released a long breath.

‘I’m sorry,’ Zina said. ‘If I didn’t mess up at the market, we wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t need to endure.’

Dawn knew that Zina was right, but George would be here anyway, and if Zina didn’t mess up, Dawn would be at home, wondering what George was doing. Would it be better just not to know?

The evening was passing slowly, but eventually, they reached dinner time. The Omegas guided everyone to the adjacent dining room to show them their pre-assigned seats.

Purple and golden decorated circular dining tables that had snow-white tablecloths, each set up for ten people. Since every delegation consisted of four-to-six people, every pack had a table, and the remaining seats were filled by notable members of the Red Moon pack.

Talia was amused to see that table for the Midnight Guardians pack was close to the main table where Alpha Edward was. Luckily, she already had her spot next to Dayson as Luna Talia.

The main table had Alpha Edward, Luna Layla, James, and Elders of the Red Moon pack. George was at the adjacent table with Commanders and Generals.

Sandy, Tyler, Mindy, and Gideon decided to sit at the table reserved for the Midnight Guardians pack. It was a silent show that members of two packs were close.

Cornelia stuck close to Talia. Sitting at the table with Talia and Dayson meant that no one would try to hit on her. She didn’t want to make this more difficult for James.

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