Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Talia looked at his retreating back and wondered if she should go after him.
She concluded that he is definitely from the Shadow Fang pack. After all, she didn’t walk that far and since he has a home here… Her stomach rumbled again, and her legs moved to follow after the man. She was hungry.
Talia thought how it was silly to be defensive because he is probably a werewolf, and he could catch her and snap her into two without blinking.
…
It was a small and cozy cabin-like home with one open area that had a kitchen, a dining table for four people, and a sitting area with a sofa and two chairs. On the right, there were two closed doors for which Talia guessed are bedroom and bathroom.
Talia inhaled scents of lavender and basil, and there were also mint and several other plants that mixed together into something sweet and soothing.
The man put on the table bread, yogurt, cherry tomatoes, and a plate with sliced smoked meat.
He gestured for her to sit with the question, “Tea?”
“Yes, please.” She would take anything. Talia looked at the food and swallowed the saliva that pooled into her mouth.
“Thank you for the food.”, she said.
“You are far from Darkbourne.”
“How do you know I came from there?”
“Humans who wander in this area on foot would have backpacks with food and drinks, yet you have a skinny purse.”, he responded, and Talia thought how that made sense. “You didn’t answer my question, why were you in my garden?”
“I wanted some time for myself, so I started walking. The forest is peaceful and… I didn’t mean to trespass into your garden. My name is Talia.”
“Talia”, he repeated. “You can call me Gideon.”
Dayson rushed into the packhouse.
He cursed internally that so many things piled up and he lost track of time.
If he knew it will take this long, he would wake up Talia in the morning and ask her to accompany him for the day.
When the news of the patrol having a skirmish with rogues on their South border woke him up, Dayson decided to let Talia sleep with a plan to check the situation quickly and return before she notices his absence. After everything they did last night, she needed rest.
The issue at the border was a matter Jaeden would look into, but since Jaeden was not here, Dayson had to go.
When he reached there, Dayson became aware of several other issues that waited for Jaeden (or him), and Dayson thought it will be done quickly, but then three generals appeared, each with their own items on the agenda and Dayson wanted to dismiss them, but he could see that those were not trivial issues and he felt guilty for neglecting his duties lately, so he texted Talia to go ahead and have lunch without him.
Dayson was missing Talia like crazy and he couldn’t wait to wrap her into his arms and inhale her addictive citrusy sweet scent of freesia, and his impatience morphed into anxiety when he didn’t find her downstairs or in their bedroom.
‘Steph! Maya!’, Dayson called through the mind link. ‘Where is Talia?’
‘I didn’t see her today.’, Maya responded first.
‘Same here.’, Stephanie said before adding, ‘I don’t think she had lunch at the packhouse.’
She skipped lunch? Dayson thought that Talia might be immersed in reading the book Travis gave her. She would sit on the sofa in the study to read it, so Dayson headed there.
Talia was not in the study, but he found a note that she went to the pack hospital.
Talia left the note that morning after confirming that Travis will see her. She thought that Dayson might return while she was away, and she didn’t want Dayson to worry.
Dayson mind-linked Travis, ‘Did you see Talia today?’
‘Yes, she was in my office this morning for a checkup, and I met with her in front of the library earlier this afternoon.’
Dayson released the breath he was holding along with some of his anxiousness. ‘So, is Talia in the library?’
‘No, how much I know, she didn’t get in.’
Dayson didn’t get it. ‘What?’
‘I was supposed to meet with Talia and help her get her next book, but when I reached there Talia was being bullied by two she-wolves. I chased them away, but Talia was upset, and she wanted to be alone.’
Dayson’s mood was set back to maximum anxiousness. ‘Where is she now?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What do you mean, you don’t know!?’, Dayson growled into the mind-link.
Travis was exasperated. Was he supposed to babysit Talia? ‘Talia is a grownup and she said she wanted to be alone. What did you expect me to do? Stop her or stalk her?’
Dayson cursed loudly and cut off the mind-link. Now what?
It took him a moment to remember his phone and the GPS tracking.
A dot representing Talia was shown in the middle of nowhere but then… that was not nowhere. Dayson knew exactly who lived in that area.
He tried calling Talia, but she didn’t pick up and Dayson remembered that she would keep her phone on silent.
…
Talia’s phone was in her purse, on silent, and she was not aware that Dayson was calling. Even if she knew, Talia wouldn’t pick up because she was not over the incident with Ashley and Heather, and she was busy with other stuff.
During her meal, Talia realized that she was talking with Gideon, the Shaman of the Shadow Fang pack, the same person Doctor Travis said Talia should talk to.
But Doctor Travis also said that Talia should check with Dayson if it’s OK to talk to the Shaman.
Did she really need Dayson’s permission to talk to people? Talia thought how that was unreasonable.
Dayson was definitely going places and talking to people, and probably doing much more than just talking (if the person in his vicinity was an attractive female), and Dayson never asked for Talia’s permission. Why would she ask for his?
The more Talia thought about this, the more vexed she was.
She understood that she shouldn’t reveal to Gideon that her wolf can talk. That seemed to be a big secret, but for the rest, she didn’t think there was a need to hide.
Besides, this was about her health and maybe getting her wolf back. Dayson had no say in it.
Once her belly was full and she was sipping warm lavender tea, Talia decided to ask, “I was wondering if you can help me with my wolf.”
Gideon’s lips lifted into a smirk. “Why do you think I can help you?”
Talia thought that maybe this is some other Gideon. Did she get the wrong person? “Aren’t you the Shaman of the Shadow Fang pack?”