Chapter 844 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

Talia was not sure. “Time is passing differently here. We have more time here than outside. Now, I need you to focus. Leave Kai and Meg to handle things here and continue searching for traces of Yasmin, Edgar, and Valeria. Ask Sandy and Tyler to organize whoever can come out to help while leaving enough warriors to protect our people. Until we confirm what happened, let’s not cause panic, but we should be prepared.” There was an option to ask witches that were staying here to teleport everyone to the Shadow Fang pack, but if Guardians were hiding here, they would be getting a free pass into another territory. It would be just replacing one bad for another.

Talia put her hand on Axel’s shoulder. “I am leaving now, and I will let you know if anything major happens. Your task is to convince Evanora to help us. Hopefully, she won’t think twice about coming out when she finds out that her daughter and grandkids are missing, and she will have some spells to track her Yasmin. Regardless of the outcome, when you are done, find me.”

Axel realized that Talia was right. Surely, Evanora should have some spells they could use to find Yasmin.

Axel moved while mind-linking Kai, Meg, Sandy, and Tyler with instructions.

“What about me?” Cassandra cried.

“What about you?” Talia asked dryly.

“I can help. The relics!” She reminded Talia. “I figured out what most of them can do.”

Talia paused. If they were going to face the Guardians, those things might be helpful.

“Get them. You have one minute. You will come with me.” Talia said.

Cassandra’s eyes lit up, and she scurried down the hallway.

“Liam,” Talia called. “I want you to keep an eye on the Oracle. If she does anything suspicious, snap her neck.”

Talia reached the Shadow Fang packhouse with Keith, Arya, Liam, Amelia, and Cassandra.

They informed James of the situation, and he said that he would join them as soon as he made arrangements there.

‘Jaeden?’ Talia called through the mind link.

‘Talia! Where are you?’

‘I just reached the packhouse, and I’m heading to the study.’ That was the last place Dayson was seen.

‘I will meet you there,’ Jaeden responded.

Talia opened the door of the study, and her stomach sank. There were documents on the table and Dayson’s cell phone, but he was not in sight. Dayson’s scent filled the air, but she could sense that he was not there for hours.

“You are here!” Jaeden said with relief in his voice.

“Where is Dayson?”

Jaeden shook his head. “I tried contacting him, but I got no response. We have another problem.”

Talia’s heart tightened. “We do?”

“Cristian, Tony, and Maddox reported rogue activities along the borders.”

“All of them?” It was Keith who asked.

Jaeden confirmed. “It seems to be an organized attack. So far, there have been some skirmishes along the borders. The reports are still coming.”

“What about our pack?” Talia asked.

“We had suspicious activity but no confirmed attacks. Maya is investigating, and we raised the alert within the pack.”

Talia could feel alarm bells ringing in her head, but she couldn’t make sense of them. She mind-linked Mindy and Gideon. The duo was busy with Omegas from the Red Moon pack in Darkbourne, and Talia decided to let them be there. People needed comforting, and Shaman was the man to make it happen.

“It’s the Guardians,” a male voice came from the door, and they all turned to see James and Cornelia standing there.

Jaeden frowned at James’ words. “How do you know?”

“Do you need to ask, considering all these simultaneous attacks?”

“Who else came with you?” Talia asked.

“George and Dawn went to join Maya’s unit.”

“What about Owen and Zina?”

“They are in the packhouse of the Red Moon pack with warriors,” James said.

“Will Owen and Zina be fine with the handful of warriors?” Arya asked. “Considering that we have attacks on so many fronts, wouldn’t it be better to cut down our losses and tighten our ranks?”

James disagreed. “None of the attacks is a big threat. If we leave that packhouse unguarded, other Alphas will jump on the opportunity to control it with an excuse it was not claimed.”

“Will anyone dare to come for it?” Arya asked.

“You bet they will,” James responded. “Neutrality of that packhouse was the first thing Alpha Natalia asked for after announcing she was mated to Alpha Dayson. Other Alphas will go for it to challenge her authority. It will reflect negatively on her image among people, and that will plant a seed of doubt in the hearts of ignorant ones. We will kick the intruders out, but we will be missing documents and valuables, which will be another swipe at Talia’s reputation.”

Arya didn’t like this. Surely a smeared reputation was a bad thing, but how can it compare to people’s lives? Owen, Zina, and their allies were there.

“How do you know that those attacks are not dangerous?” Arya asked James.

“Because they are after me,” Talia responded. “All this is to cause distraction and rift between allies so they can get to me.”

“What will you do?” Jaeden asked.

Talia wanted to rush to where the Guardians were, but she knew that would be foolish. “I want to talk to Cristian, Maddox, and Tony. Can you call them on a video call?”

Jaeden confirmed and got his phone.

Talia moved behind Dayson’s desk, and she sat on his chair. She reached for his phone to see notifications of missed calls, hers mostly.

While holding onto the phone, Talia remembered something. “Did you find Steph?”

Jaeden responded while sending a text message to three Alphas, “Steph is not in the packhouse, and she is unreachable via pack link.” Jaeden’s brows came together when he realized something. “Do you think she had something to do with this?”

“Before going to the Midnight Guardians pack, I called Dayson to let him know about it. Steph answered his phone. She said that he was not in his study, and he left his phone behind, but Dayson never leaves his phone behind.” Especially not when he knew they were too far away to communicate through their mind link.

Jaeden had to agree with this. Dayson wouldn’t leave his phone unattended, and he always kept tabs on Talia.

“I will alert our warriors to keep an eye out for Steph,” Jaeden said stiffly, and then his eyes lost focus.

Talia’s laptop lit up as she had call requests.

Maddox, Tony, and Cristian shared their status. They each had a few skirmishes with injured parties but no fatalities.

Tony said he suspected one group of attackers was from the Night Sentinel pack, but they escaped, and Alpha William claimed he was being set up. Tony said that he would investigate this further.

“Where is Dayson?” Maddox asked. He assumed that Dayson wanted to meet with them and organize their units.

“He is missing,” Talia said.

Tony’s eyes widened. “Missing?”

Talia confirmed. “And he is not the only one. Yasmin and the twins are missing as well. No one saw them when or how they disappeared from the packhouse of the Midnight Guardians pack. The same is with Dayson. He was last seen in the study a few hours ago. We suspect that the Guardians acted on this personally.”

“What can we do?” Cristian asked.

“I hope you can protect your borders. I will figure out how to get Dayson, Yasmin, and the kids.” Talia didn’t have a plan, but she knew that she was the one who needed to make it happen.

“That’s a horrible idea,” Maddox said. “If Dayson is there, he would give you a good scolding for thinking that way.”

Talia was confused. “What?”

Cristian nodded in agreement with Maddox. “You are talking about Guardians. If they have their hands on Dayson, you are the last person who should go there.”

James stood behind Talia so the other three Alphas could see him on their screens. “We are all assuming that Guardians are behind this, but we are not certain. And even if we know it’s them, there are endless possibilities as to where they are keeping the hostages.”

“Hostages?” Cristian asked.

“Would you be surprised to find out what’s happening are distractions and baits for Guardians to get their hands on Talia?” James asked.

“That’s another reason for Talia to sit this one out,” Tony said.

“I can’t sit and hope for the best while my people are fighting, and Dayson, Yasmin, and the twins are missing!” Talia protested.

“No one says you should hide,” Maddox said. “But I would rather face a war than allow Tanya to put herself in danger. However, I can’t expect her to stay locked up. Right now, she is with our people, guiding them to shelters and assuring them that our warriors will protect them. Your people need you, and you need to put their needs first. If anything happens to you, they will be lost, and Dayson will go mad.”

Talia was touched by the care Maddox, Tony, and Cristian showed, but she had to make something clear.

“I’m not Tanya, Maddox,” Talia said. She was not comfortable discussing her heritage as a Guardian, so she stuck to other facts. “The Guardians want me. I can make this stop.”

“You are right,” Cristian said. “If you contact them and agree to negotiate, they will call off the attacks. However, they won’t accept a trivial tribute. They don’t need money or land. They want you. Assuming you accept their conditions, we will live in peace until the next powerful female catches their eye.”

Tony added, “If you go, it will only tell them that this strategy works. Dayson taught me that if the other party won’t give anything in return, that’s not negotiation; it’s blackmail. This time, they get you. Next time, they will come for Kalina, Tanya, Michelle, and many others.”

Maddox hummed in agreement. “I know you feel guilty by sitting there, knowing you can stop it. But you going to them won’t be a solution. How guilty will you feel to know that your friends were targeted next because you gave in?”

“They are right,” James said to Talia from the side. “We will figure out how to deal with attacks, and we will come up with a plan to save everyone without pushing you in the middle of it. I am confident that every pack member feels the same. You are Luna of the Shadow Fang pack and the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack. You are not replaceable.”

Talia exhaled helplessly. She had no intention of going to surrender herself. She wanted to punish the Guardians for their behavior and save Dayson, Yasmin, and the kids. But the truth was that she didn’t know where they were held or where the Guardians were.

“I promise that I won’t do anything reckless,” Talia said to James and then turned to her laptop from where Maddox, Tony, and Cristian were looking at her. “Jaeden and Maya will be in charge of our warriors, and George will assist them. James will be our point of contact and main strategist. Please inform him of any changes. Axel is handling the Midnight Guardians pack and searching for clues on where Yasmin and the twins are, and I will do the same here regarding Dayson.”

After the video call ended, Talia turned to Cassandra, who was standing on the side silently. “Work with Cornelia in organizing the relics you’ve brought. Tell her what they do and how to activate them. Amelia, you will be in charge of preparing teleportation diagrams. In case of an emergency, we need to be able to move our units quickly. James, work with Maya and Jaeden to distribute relics to our people in the best way possible.”

Jaeden nodded in approval. Instead of shrinking, Talia took charge of the situation. Dayson will be proud to hear about this.

Amelia left the study to handle her tasks.

Keith and Arya went with Jaeden to sync up on the current situation. They went to Jaeden’s study because Dayson’s was crowded with everyone in it, and Cassandra and Cornelia needed space.

Liam stayed to keep an eye on Talia.

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