Chapter 583 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

Mindy was moved. Every necklace used for these ceremonies was personally made by the person wearing it, and the gesture of Gideon giving her his necklace meant that what was his was hers to have. And he did it in front of the whole pack to see.

“I am not asking you to trust me right away.”, Gideon said to Mindy. “I am asking you for a chance. I might mess up again and hurt you unintentionally, but if I repeat the same mistake, I will personally help you pack if that’s what you want. Among all women in the Shadow Fang pack, among all women in the world, there is only one Mindy River, and she is my mate, and I promise to cherish her as long as there is breath in me.”

Mindy looked into Gideon’s eyes that silently pleaded for her to accept his longwinded apology. How can she say no to that?

Seeing that Mindy’s lips lifted into a smile, Gideon was quick to move to place a kiss on her lips, and use that proximity and sparks of their bond to prevent her from changing her mind.

“You won’t regret this, princess”, he murmured against her lips, and then he kissed her again.

Among cheers and whistles, Gideon inched away from Mindy and grinned at the crowd. His hand was firmly around Mindy’s waist, telling everyone that the young woman by Gideon’s side was taken.

Mindy released a shaky breath before saying, “I, Mindy River, denounce my pack, the Blue River pack.” She felt a pang in her chest as the connection between her and the Blue River pack was severed, and she was confident that her brother felt it also. Maybe he didn’t know it was Mindy, but every Alpha can feel when someone leaves or joins their pack. Of course, joining a pack is not as simple as saying a few words as it required a ceremony and Alpha’s acceptance.

Gideon reached for the knife that was on the altar, and he gave it to Mindy.

Mindy accepted a long white knife that was made out of a bone, and the handle had intricate designs etched into it.

Mindy looked into Gideon’s eyes and winced when the white blade cut into her palm.

A few drops of blood trickled, and Gideon collected them in a chalice.

“Do you accept the Shadow Fang pack as your own?”, Gideon asked.

“I, Mindy River, am willing to accept the Shadow Fang pack as my own.”, Mindy confirmed.

Gideon glanced at Dayson who was standing on the side.

Dayson responded with a nod and, “Mindy River, I, Alpha Dayson Blake, accept you as the member of the Shadow Fang pack.”

Gideon murmured unintelligible chants while pouring those few drops of blood into the fire that was crackling on the altar, and the moment the flames licked the blood, Mindy felt another pang in her chest, and this one Dayson felt as well.

“Welcome to the Shadow Fang pack, Mindy”, Dayson said, and the crowd cheered.

Nina stood on the side, and now she understood Gideon’s strange behavior. He found his mate. Who knew? She couldn’t prevent the jealousy that swelled within her at the sight of Gideon who was licking Mindy’s palm to help her heal while gazing at the young woman lovingly.

It was obvious that the Shaman was smitten by his mate, and Nina clearly saw that Mindy threw a fit only a few minutes ago. Nina wondered, why did the Moon Goddess pair up Gideon with someone as young and impulsive as Mindy? Wasn’t a mature woman like Nina a better match?

Nina knew Gideon for a long time. She served as his assistant on many occasions and they were friends with benefits. She was confident that Gideon was blinded by Mindy’s youthful appearance and that he will eventually get bored of Mindy’s snappy personality, and then he will return to normal and to Nina.

Back in the crowd, Lisa stood with Ester and a few other friends.

“Isn’t that nice?”, Ester asked excitedly while elbowing her girlfriends. “Finally, our Shaman found his mate. And that is Mindy from the Blue River pack. She is famous!” Ester was hoping to get close to Mindy, and maybe Mindy could introduce Ester to some of those high-ranking males that were not mated. Who knows, maybe her mate was among them? That would be a dream come true!

Lisa was not enthusiastic about Gideon and Mindy. Her gaze was on Dayson who was standing on the side. “Why is our Alpha on his own? Shouldn’t he lead the run with his mate?”

Lisa heard that Marcy left, that was not a secret, and Lisa wondered if Talia will be there or maybe some other she-wolf will fill in that spot. Lisa had difficulty believing that Talia would rise from a no-name Omega, a wolf-less she-wolf, to be the Luna of the largest pack in North America. Dayson was there with Jaeden and Maya by his side, and part of Lisa was happy that Talia was not in the visible range.

“Didn’t you hear?”, Ester responded. “Our Luna went ahead, and Alpha will hunt for her. Exciting!”

Lisa thought that something was off. “Hunt can start after the ceremony. Why was our Luna willing to skip on the blessing from the Moon Goddess?” She gave Ester a knowing look. “Would YOU skip on the blessing from the Moon Goddess on your first pack run as the Luna?”

“You think that something is not right?”, Ester asked.

“Something is definitely off.”, Lisa said confidently, and then she quickly lowered her voice when she remembered her mother’s warnings about not causing trouble. “Don’t take my word for it. I’m just guessing. Let’s wait and see what will happen.”

Talia followed her instincts without looking in which direction she was going. But she could feel the incline, and the lack of noise from behind made her wonder if the ceremony started. Her steps halted and she looked up to see the full moon. It was not completely up, did Gideon start the ceremony early? The cheers erupted, and she understood that there was some speech going on.

Talia released a breath of relief. She still had time, but it was running short, and she needed to hurry. Luckily, the pull was strong, and she knew she was close.

Talia emerged to a clearing and was greeted by the clamor of water in the distance.

She paused to observe the surroundings and her breath hitched when she recognized where she was. It was the clearing where Alpha Jacob and Luna Violet were buried.

Talia smiled a little at the thought that Dayson’s parents will get to observe the ritual that will remove dark magic from their son.

Talia looked in the direction of the packhouse that was lower compared to the clearing where she was, and she could see torches with dancing flames marking the area around the raised platform where Gideon was with Mindy by his side. The tree canopies obstructed the view of the crowd, including the area where Dayson was with Jaeden, Maya, and other guests, but Talia knew they were there.

She could feel the pride that swelled in Dayson’s chest as he fed on the energy from his pack members and Talia regretted that she was not by his side right there, for everyone to see. Somehow, again she ended up in the background, away from everyone’s eyes. Normally, that would be the preferred spot for her, the one that didn’t attract attention, but this time she wanted to be by Dayson’s side.

Talia forced herself to look away. This was temporary. After this, she will be with Dayson and not hide ever again, hopefully. And for now, she needed to focus.

Talia could feel that she was at the right spot, and she reached into the small pouch to get the chalk and crystals. It was time to draw the diagram and to place energy-attracting objects on their right places.

“Can we help?”, Keith asked when he saw that Talia was getting busy.

“Spread around and make sure no one disturbs me.”, Talia responded, hoping that it sounded important enough. It was a silly request because no one would come here. Dayson told Talia that this was one of the restricted areas in his territory, and she knew that they were able to come here only because the guards saw her, and they let them pass.

“Zina? What’s the status?”, Talia asked.

Zina’s eyes lost focus for a moment and then she responded, “Shaman introduced Mindy as his mate, and she is officially a member of our pack. The Ceremony is about to begin.”

Talia hummed in acknowledgment and continued pushing the grass to the side so that the chalk can make marks on the ground. When she was planning for this in her mind, Talia was doing the drawing on the flat ground, and she totally forgot that out here there will be grass and other foliage in the way. Luckily, it was in the clearing; if she needed to work around a tree, she would be in trouble.

…

James and Cornelia stood on the side and Cornelia observed the ceremony with interest.

Gideon addressed the crowd and then he raised his hands toward the moon as he chanted unintelligibly words she didn’t understand, but Cornelia could clearly see that, little by little, the moon’s energy was amplifying energy from the surroundings, and everything was converging toward the platform where Gideon and Mindy were standing with the altar in its center.

Cornelia wondered what will happen next.

After some time, Cornelia’s attention was drawn to the black mist that appeared out of nowhere. It was difficult to see it in the dark, but Cornelia was sensitive to energies, and it took her a few seconds to identify Dayson as the source.

She gave James’ hand a squeeze.

“I think we might have a problem.”, Cornelia said in a low voice.

“What?”, James asked.

“The Shaman is gathering positive energy, and I think it’s weakening the defenses that Dayson has against black runes.”, Cornelia explained to James, and then she reached to touch Maya’s shoulder and get her attention.

“I think that black runes are getting active on your Alpha.”, Cornelia told Maya.

Maya looked at Dayson nervously. “Are you sure? What can we do?”

Cornelia was not sure. Even if the black runes were breaking through, it didn’t mean that Dayson was not remembering Talia or their plan. There was the potion to suppress the black runes, but if Dayson remembered things, then he didn’t need it, and if he forgot, then the problem was if they can make Dayson drink it now in front of everyone. There was definitely no time to give him the potion sneakily, and forcing it on him was a suicidal mission. On the other side, Talia should be ready with the ritual any minute.

“Can you check on Talia’s status? As long as we get Dayson there, things should be fine.”, Cornelia said.

‘Zina? Where are you? Is Talia ready?’, Maya asked Zina through the mind-link.

‘Talia is still drawing, as for where we are… I’m not sure.’, Zina responded. ‘I was never here before. We are somewhere up, and I can see the torches that were set up for the ceremony.’

‘Do you see any landmark?’, Maya continued probing.

‘It’s dark. What do you expect me to see?’

Maya puffed her cheeks in frustration. That was not useful.

“What’s going on?”, Dawn asked in a whisper. She saw the exchange between Maya and Cornelia and even though she didn’t hear what they were saying, she figured out that something was off.

…

Up at the clearing, Talia finished drawing the diagram and placing the crystals in their designated places.

After double-checking that everything looks in order, she kept things on the side and glanced in the distance toward the area that was illuminated by torches.

‘Dayson, I’m ready for you.’, Talia spoke to Dayson through their mind-link.

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