Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Tatiana is independent, smart, and successful, and she built her brand from the ground up without relying on a man. That’s Mindy’s cup of tea.
It’s not that Mindy dislikes when a woman relies on a man, but she saw too many she-wolves rising dust only because they have a strong backer. Women like Tatiana are self-made and Mindy respects that immensely.
Maya and Jaeden helped everyone settle for breakfast, and Tony introduced the four newcomers: Paul, Greg, Nate, and Meg.
They were all in their early twenties, and Tony was considering them for various high-level positions in the Lightclaw pack once he becomes an Alpha. He still didn’t decide who of the four will take which position, but he hoped to get additional guidance from Dayson and Maddox as they go through the training.
…
The atmosphere was lively when Dayson and Talia joined for breakfast.
Mindy, Kalina, and Tatiana were chatting in a lively mood, and Tony was at that table, feeding Kalina and making sure her plate was always full.
The second table was occupied by Paul, Nate, Greg, and Meg.
Maya and Jaeden were moving between two tables while ensuring that everyone feels welcome.
Dayson scanned the faces and grinned at Talia.
“What?”, she asked.
“I told you we won’t be last.”, Dayson said proudly. “Max is still not here.”
Talia would respond something snarky, but Dayson’s happiness amplified hers and she ended up laughing. She was never so happy, and neither was he.
Talia and Dayson introduced themselves to new faces, and greeted the familiar ones, before sitting at the table with Mindy, Tatiana, Tony, and Kalina.
Dayson went to get food for himself and Talia, and Talia was quick to exchange hugs with Kalina and Mindy.
Mindy smiled knowingly at Talia. “You look three orgasms happy.”
Talia’s eyes flashed in shock. What did Mindy say?
Behind Talia, at the table with breakfast, Dayson’s ears perked up. He turned toward Mindy and raised four fingers before mouthing to her, ‘four’.
Of course, Kalina didn’t miss this either, and both Kalina and Mindy burst into giggles.
Talia’s face fell when she realized that Mindy and Kalina were looking over her shoulder. Talia snapped to look at Dayson who was busy putting croissants onto a plate, like nothing fishy was going on.
Talia pressed her lips into a line and took a mental note to get back at Dayson. She was not sure what he did, but she knew he did something. And it was mischievous.
Dayson returned while carrying two plates full of food and then he went back to get one coffee for himself and an orange juice for Talia.
After settling next to Talia, Dayson started cutting what needed to be cut and spreading what needed to be spread, and then he fed Talia one bite at a time, without care that everyone was watching.
Actually, Tony was doing the same to Kalina, so neither of the two guys was standing out.
Both Talia and Kalina enjoyed pampering and Talia noticed the mark on Kalina’s neck. It was partially hidden with the collar of Kalina’s blouse and Talia took a mental note to ask about it later, in private.
In the kitchen…
Stephanie was having breakfast with Dawn, Zina, Ivy, and Lily.
Maya came to the kitchen earlier to tell them that they can eat in the garden with everyone. “One table is completely free because Axel and his party are not here yet.”
Stephanie refused. “It’s fine. We have everything we need here.”
Ivy and Lily thought how that was strange. In the Lightclaw pack, Omegas will never eat with high-ranking members unless it’s an official event that everyone is attending.
Dawn and Zina approved of staying in the kitchen. It would be one thing if it’s a party and they can mingle, but this was breakfast, and the atmosphere was much more formal.
“We can talk freely here, and if we join you we will need to be quiet.”, Zina said to Maya. She mostly said this because of Ivy and Lily. It was obvious that the two newcomers were very strict about respecting hierarchy.
Dawn and Zina were full of questions about the Lightclaw pack, and Ivy and Lily took turns answering them.
Stephanie’s head whipped toward the door a moment before a figure appeared there.
“Why are you here?”, Stephanie asked Lisa stiffly. She didn’t want to cause a scene and they agreed that Lisa will stay in the apartment while Stephanie is in the packhouse.
“Am I not welcome?”, Lisa asked, feeling wronged. “Every pack member can come here.”
“True.”, Stephanie confirmed. “But no one comes unless they have some business here. That’s why I asked, why are you here?”
Lisa’s eyes moved over Dawn and Zina, and her eyebrows shoot up when she saw Lily and Ivy. “I know you.”
“Yes, Miss Lisa”, Ivy responded. “We met more than once in the packhouse of the Lightclaw pack.”
“Tony brought you with him.”, Lisa guessed.
“Not exactly.”, Lily responded. “We are here to serve Miss Kalina.”
Lisa’s expression stiffened.
“Lisa?”, Stephanie called, and Lisa saw that her mother’s brows were furrowing.
“Mom, I know what you are going to say.”, Lisa said. “It’s OK. Everyone knows that Tony abandoned me when he found his mate and I am having a difficult time accepting the reality. I was sitting in the apartment and going crazy. I need to end this.”
“By coming here?”, Stephanie asked with disproval obvious in her voice.
“What else can I do? Don’t worry, I won’t cause trouble. I just want to see them. Maybe if I see Tony and Kalina happy, I will be able to accept that the last few years of my life were a lie and I need to move on.”
Stephanie loved that Lisa finally spoke about moving on, but… “I don’t think this is a good idea.” If Lisa loses her cool and causes an incident, Alpha Dayson might really punish her.
“Don’t you need to talk to Tony and the group he brought here?”, Talia asked Dayson softly, only for Dayson to hear.
They finished with breakfast and were chatting over beverages while snacking on fruits.
Dayson cocked an eyebrow at Talia. “Are you chasing me away?”
“Of course, not. But they came here to train. Shouldn’t you spend some time with them?”
The truth was that Talia also wanted to chat with Kalina and Mindy, and Dayson’s presence made it impossible to have a girl chat. And because of Dayson, Tony was there also.
Dayson hugged Talia tightly and spoke into her hair like a child who was wronged, “They will be here for many days with plenty of chances to train and talk and…”
“And I’m not going anywhere.”, Talia interrupted Dayson. “I want to talk to ladies and see if they want to go shopping, and you have your things to do.”
Mindy’s eyes lit up. “Did someone say, shopping?”
Dayson rolled his eyes at Mindy but didn’t say anything. Mindy’s blatant way of speaking always rubbed Dayson the wrong way, but he ignored her on those few occasions they met because of Maddox. However, since Talia was here, this was his third time to see Mindy within a month and there were instances when he wanted to install a zipper on her mouth.
However, Dayson knew that Talia was right, but that didn’t make it easy to separate. He wanted Talia in his touching distance all the time.
Yes, he was going to the neighboring table, and he knew that soon they will head to the training grounds for Tony and his people to see the equipment, meet Dayson’s generals, and discuss upcoming training, but even if his distance from Talia was only three steps, that was three steps too many.