Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson’s flavors seeped into Talia’s system and her brain stuttered.
Why was he kissing her while Cassie was glaring daggers at her?
A second later, Cassie faded from Talia’s mind due to Dayson’s toe-curling kiss full of longing which came with the most delicious flavor of the dark chocolate, and Talia gripped Dayson’s arms to steady herself because her legs were giving up on her.
“My dear”, Dayson spoke into Talia’s lips, his deep voice was full of unspoken emotions. “There is a woman who wants to know who you are. Do you want to introduce yourself or should we ignore her and move on?”
“What woman?”, Talia asked breathily. She was lost in Dayson’s endlessly icy-blue eyes, forgetting about Cassie and the party and anything else.
Dayson chuckled. “That’s right. The only woman worth noticing is you.”
Cassie’s expression turned ugly. She was standing right there! Why were they treating her like air?
She was never humiliated like this!
But she couldn’t voice her grievances. Not in front of Dayson, but… who is that woman?
Talia’s face was still obstructed by Dayson, but Cassie knew everyone who was someone, and she was confident that Talia was not among those people.
“Well? Will you introduce your date to me? Or is she not worthy because tomorrow you will be with someone else?”, Cassie asked Dayson impatiently without removing her scrutinizing gaze from Talia, waiting for Dayson to move so that she can see Talia’s face clearly.
Dayson’s face darkened. He turned to Cassie to respond, and his mouth froze half-open because Talia spoke
“Are you hoping that someone else will be you?”
Dayson looked at Talia with renewed interest, unsure from where that confidence came. And this was beyond just confidence. Talia extruded an aura that urged him to worship her, similar to the one he felt at the human hospital when Talia faced Mr. Martinez, but this one was fiercer.
Dayson was not sure if this sensation was due to the mate bond or something else. Can Cassie feel it? If Cassie felt anything, she was resisting it because she was glaring at Talia. But the beads of sweat on Cassie’s forehead told him that there is something.
Talia had enough of Cassie and her attitude like she owned the place.
Every insult Cassie threw at her was replaying in Talia’s mind and her cheek stung at the memory of Cassie’s slap, fueling Talia’s anger. At first, Talia thought that Cassie was bullying her because Talia was wearing shabby clothes and was alone, but now Talia was not alone, and her dress was fabulous, yet Cassie still treated her like trash.
This incident confirmed that Cassie looks down on everyone. Does she feel better by putting others down? How is that different from Anna and her gang of Omegas from the Red Moon pack?
Cassie is lucky to be a daughter of an Alpha, but that doesn’t give her the right to bully others. Just like Marcy.
How can Talia allow Cassie to bully her? Talia is here with Dayson, as his date, representing the Shadow Fang pack. If she lowers her head and allows Cassie to do what she pleases, that will be a stain on Dayson and on the Shadow Fang pack. That’s unacceptable.
Cassie eyed Talia from head to toe a few times and she could swear that Talia looked familiar, but Cassie couldn’t put her finger on it.
“I’m not hoping that Dayson will be with me. I know he will.”, Cassie said confidently. “I’ve seen Dayson with many women who don’t tickle his imagination for more than one night, and then he comes back to me.”
“He is ALPHA Dayson to you”, Talia responded sternly and then her lips lifted into a mocking smile. “I am surprised to hear you boasting about being a fallback girl.”
Cassie was stupefied. No one spoke to her like that before. Everyone in the Steelbite pack pampers her, her father included. She always had a celebrity treatment inside and outside of the Steelbite pack. What fallback girl? Dayson coming to her more than once is an exception, that makes her special why did this woman (aka Talia) make it sound like it’s something shameful?
“What?”
Talia smiled condescendingly. “It seems you still don’t get it. No wonder Dayson was able to take advantage of you. But I must disappoint you Miss whoever-you-are because Dayson is with me tonight. And I have no intention of letting go of him tomorrow either. So, you will need to find someone else’s arm to latch onto, because Dayson’s arms are busy with me. Do you get it now or should I simplify it further for your pea-sized brain to understand?”
Cassie’s biggest issue was the explosive temper that clouds her judgment and makes her forget all the warnings her father gave her. Now that Talia stood next to Dayson (in Cassie’s place, how Cassie saw it) and she insulted her, Cassie’s anger was surging.
“Who do you think you are!?”, Cassie screamed.
“I am someone who can come to this event as Dayson’s date. I am someone who can keep Dayson by my side for more than one night.”, Talia said firmly. She knew that her tone was egoistic, but she didn’t lie.
Dayson perked up at Talia’s words. She was almost claiming him as hers openly. Almost.
Cassie sucked in a sharp breath. “You are the girl from the photo” Her eyes darted from Dayson to Talia. “You were with him at the Summer Solstice festival.”
Talia really enjoyed putting Cassie in her place. “Yes. We were together at the festival and if you think that’s the only place where Dayson took me, think again.”
Cassie’s face fell when she remembered from where Talia was familiar. “You are the girl from the car the one who went with Dayson to the human town when I was…”
‘SLAP!’
Cassie’s eyes widened in shock when Talia slapped her.
Talia was equally shocked. This was her first time to hit a person! But Cassie was addressing Dayson casually and Talia couldn’t stand it.
Talia lifted her chin smugly. “It’s ALPHA Dayson. How dare you talk about Dayson in such a friendly way?”
Cassie robotically reached for her cheek which didn’t hurt much because Talia doesn’t have the strength of a werewolf, but what received a devastating blow was Cassie’s ego.
Talia’s palm, on the other side, was throbbing painfully and Talia would shake her hand and cry if not for maintaining her high-and-mighty posture. Her hand was achy, but Talia felt the satisfaction of returning the slap that Cassie gave her in the packhouse of the Shadow Fang pack. It came late, but it still felt good.
Cassie’s face turned ugly. “And what gives YOU the right to address him casually?”
“The right that you don’t have, Missy” Talia said smugly and hugged Dayson’s arm. “Do you get it now? You are nobody. A bad memory. Scram.”
Cassie’s fury swelled to the point of boiling and she lost it completely.
“You, wench!”, Cassie screamed and moved toward Talia.
‘SLAP!’
This slap came from Dayson and it propelled Cassie backward until she fell on the butt unceremoniously.
There was no way that Dayson would allow Cassie to hit Talia again. He still clearly remembers Cassie slapping Talia in the packhouse, and he regrets that he was not one second faster, to prevent it.
…
“CASSIE!”, Alpha Richard exclaimed while rushing toward them. He got into the hallway just in time to hear Cassie call Talia a wench and to see Dayson slapping Cassie away (literally).
To make things worse, Alpha Richard didn’t come alone. Several other people were right behind him, witnessing this, and making it an incident that can’t be easily brushed off.
When Omega told him that Cassie and Dayson are in the hallway and that his presence was requested, Alpha Richard asked people who were at his table to join him, with the hope that he can take advantage of the situation and the audience, but this was NOT what he had in mind.
Alpha Richard cursed internally while helping Cassie stand up. He told her to stay at home, but she insisted on coming because Cassie doesn’t miss these events, and then Cassie said that she needs more time to get ready and he suspected that Cassie has a plan to get close to Dayson, but he still thought she will be wise about it and not make a spectacle.
What did she do for Dayson to hit her like that? Damn it!
Alpha Richard took a deep breath to compose himself. This is not a lost cause. His daughter got a beating and he can definitely turn this in his favor.