Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Without any bright ideas on how to find Talia, Dayson turned the car and drove back to the packhouse where he left guests having breakfast. On this day, Dayson needed to play his role of an Alpha no matter how much his soul cried for Talia’s proximity.
Actually, for the sake of Talia and her safety, Dayson needed to pull himself together and act like everything is fine.
Alpha Maddox warned Dayson that there will be many people watching, and if anyone suspects that Talia is the girl Alpha Richard is curious about, she will be in danger. Damn it!
…
…
The sports fields were on the opposite side of Darkbourne compared to the packhouse, so Talia got to pass through the busy main street, and she saw the town square that was bustling with activity while everyone was doing final preparations for the festival.
In the center of the town square is a clock tower, decorated with colorful streamers and little triangle-shaped flags, and there is a small fountain and a lot of balloons.
Numerous mobile stalls were lined up to create several passages where one could play games or buy food and various merchandise, and Talia was curious to see what are the offerings.
Talia took a peek to see two teenage girls arranging paper fans and necklaces made out of seashells, another stall offered dreamcatchers of various colors, and the next one had palm-sized stones that had messages written on them.
A bit further away, two bulky guys were pushing a big machine in place that had nets on each side and a basketball hoop at the far end. Talia guessed that this is a game where one needs to throw the ball into the hoop a few times and not miss in order to win a prize.
Talia read about those kinds of games online while doing her research in preparation for the upcoming festival. Exciting!
One stall had plush toys hanging in three rows, and each toy had a small swaying target above it.
Talia’s insides fluttered at all the positive energy around her. People were smiling and laughing and singing with the music that blasted from speakers that were attached to roofs of several stalls, and Talia was looking forward to seeing how amazing it will be when the fair actually starts in a few hours.
There were many other stalls that Talia didn’t get to check, but she left them for later because she didn’t want to be late for the games.
Several streams of people converged into a single street and Talia knew that’s the direction of the sports fields. At this rate, she didn’t need the map that Stephanie gave her. Talia only needed to follow the crowd.
At the end of the street was a big open area, and vendors offering snacks and various gadgets for cheering were lining the main path on each side.
Talia took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of popcorn that mixed with hotdogs. Mouthwatering.
She glanced at the massive hands made out of sponges, hats with logos of teams that will participate, as well as t-shirts, pom-poms, blowers, and several other things she couldn’t recognize.
The bleachers were getting packed with the audience, while some guys in jerseys were running on the big grass-covered field to warm up. There was one other field on the right with a massive bouncy house where kids were screaming excitedly, and on the field behind it, several people were busying themselves on setting up the hot air balloon that will offer rides.
Talia was focused on the central field, where the games will be played. She headed to the side that had a sign ‘home team’, and she was happy to see a few isolated empty seats in the first few rows. Everyone came in groups, so those few seats were left for loners, like Talia. She didn’t mind.
Talia thought that meeting with Keith, Liam, Pierce, Caleb, Lulu, and Sandy will be easy, but now that she saw all the crowd and the commotion where the participants were, Talia realized that there is a chance she won’t see them at all other than while they are playing the game. But she didn’t allow that to discourage her.
Talia took a seat in the second row and observed all the cheery faces around her.
Even with all the people crowding the seats, she spotted several vendors with trays who were snaking between seats and selling snacks.
It was very lively.
Talia’s sight froze on the North side of the field. There was a covered area that towered above the bleachers and Talia didn’t need to guess for whom that’s reserved. Of course, it was for Alpha Dayson and his guests, a VVIP lounge of some sort. The lounge was empty, so Talia guessed that they are yet to arrive.
She forced herself to look away because any thoughts about Dayson will come with an unpleasant backlash she didn’t want to experience, yet she knew that it’s inevitable.
“Talia! Talia!”, a voice reached her, and Talia saw Liam waving at her from the field enthusiastically.
Just like a number of other players on the field, Liam was wearing a dark grey jersey with an outline of a wolf howling on it, and it had number 7.
If not for the low wall divider between the audience and the field, they could meet in a few steps.
Talia waved back at him in a greeting, hoping that his shout didn’t attract too much attention in all the noise from the music and people talking.
Of course, Pierce was among people who heard Liam’s shout and he was quick to join.
Pierce was wearing the same jersey as Liam, but his had a number 5 on it.
“Good that you made it!”, Pierce said with a big smile.
“I said that I will come and cheer for you, right?”, Talia responded without shouting, confident that they can hear her..
Other than Pierce, Keith also heard Liam calling Talia and he craned his neck to see where she is. He perked up when he saw that Talia was on her own.
‘Ask Talia to come here…’, Keith spoke to Liam and Pierce through the mind-link.
Keith was pleased to see that Talia followed their instructions to the door that opened to the sports field.
“Hi, Keith”, Talia greeted him while eyeing other guys who were around him and she smiled when she saw that Caleb, Lulu, and Sandy were there also, their familiar faces greeted Talia enthusiastically.
They were all wearing dark gray jerseys, except for Sandy whose jersey was dark green, and it had number 1 on it.
Keith was wearing dark gray joggers and a matching jacket that said ‘COACH’ on his back, and there was a silvery outline of a wolf’s head below it.
Seeing that Talia stopped a few steps from others, Keith waved at her to come closer.
“Why did you sit there?”, Keith pointed toward the audience from where Talia came. “Didn’t I promise you the best seat to see the game?”
Talia was not sure if there is a better spot compared to that VVIP booth, and her previous seat was quite good also, but then she saw Keith gesturing toward the bench that is reserved for players, coaches, and other people who are important for the game. It was right there, next to the field line.
“Everyone!”, Keith called. “This is Talia. Treat her well.”
Players’ greetings melded into indistinct murmurs that were accompanied by nods and casual waves. A few people observed Talia curiously, but most of them were trying to focus on the upcoming game and they didn’t have time to focus on the newcomer.
Talia was a bit intimidated by the situation she found herself in, and she didn’t dare to look at the audience, confident that some of them were looking her way.
“Is it OK for me to be here?”, Talia asked Keith nervously. Standing on the field with players wearing jerseys and surrounded by thousands of people who were seated in the audience was not Talia’s style. She preferred to stay invisible.
“Absolutely.”, Keith assured her. “I thought you will come with Beta Maya.”
“She is busy with guests and other things, so I came on my own.”