Chapter 659 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

Axel extended his hand toward Talia again, silently asking for her hand, and she put it there.

“OK”, Axel said while standing up. “Now, I want you to draw something.”

“What should I draw?”

Axel shrugged. “Anything you feel like but keep it simple.”

Talia watched as Axel walked to his desk and got a paper, and he started scribbling on it.

Unsure where this was going, Talia started drawing. It was an ugly bird that reminded her of the bird she drew on Dayson’s arm when the silly Alpha was obsessed with getting tattoos. Talia hoped that leading a pack doesn’t require artistic skills because she had none.

Should she take some art lessons? She would love to, only if she had time. Lack of time seemed to be an unnecessary concern considering her identity and location, but the truth was that since she met Dayson, Talia was always busy and since she became the Alpha (and Luna), things only got busier.

A minute later, Axel stood up with a folded paper in his hand.

Talia finished her bird and looked at Axel who looked at her with amusement.

Without a word, Axel opened the paper to show her an identical bird to the one she had on her notepad. Talia put both drawings on the table side-by-side to confirm that even an unsightly curve in the right wing was present on both copies… or was it on both originals?

Talia gaped at Axel. She thought that it was an ability to see from another angle or through her eyes, but he obviously drew that bird before she did.

“How did you know I will draw this?” Talia asked. “And how did you make it the same?” Even if he just said that it will be a bird, she would be impressed, but he actually got the details right.

“It’s my ability”, Axel said and made a dramatic pause. “I can see things that are about to happen. For the first round of questions, I saw the scene of you writing down your answers. And for these”, he gestured toward two drawings on the coffee table. “I saw you drawing it. This wing wouldn’t be so crooked if you didn’t draw it first.”

“Woah!”, Talia said under her breath while thinking how handy that was. He can see what will happen and fix it if he doesn’t like it. Or can he fix it? “What happens if you act differently from what’s expected?” What if he saw her drawing that bird, but then he changed his instructions so that she draws something else?

Axel shook his head, indicating that he was not sure. “I can’t see everything. It’s almost like some things are certain that will happen. I tried impacting others to get a different outcome, but no matter what I did, what I saw, came true.”

That was a bummer, Talia thought. Wasn’t this like a curse? Axel could see bad things, and he was unable to prevent them from happening.

On the other side, a future that can’t be changed can be taken advantage of.

“You can earn a lot of money by gambling. There is a city called Las Vegas, and you could be the money-king there.”

Axel stifled a laugh. She had some good ideas, but… “It comes with limitations. I can see the future of the person I touch directly, and it goes only a few minutes in the future.”

That explained the awkward hand-holding, Talia thought.

“Can you see your future?”, she asked.

Axel nodded, and his expression told Talia it was not pleasant. “At first, I had so many déjà vu moments that I thought I was going crazy. It was like my world was stuttering, and I knew what will happen before it happened. It took me a while to realize what was going on and to figure out a way to turn it off.”

Talia felt sorry for Axel. By knowing what was coming, he was robbed of enjoying the present. He was set on anticipating good things and dreading the bad ones, and the only thing he could do was wait for them to happen.

“Are you worried about me?” Axel asked, and Talia realized that her expression fell.

“Don’t worry. It’s not bad.”, he assured her. “Yasmin said that with practice, my ability can evolve. Maybe I get to see the parts that can be changed, further into the future, and I don’t need to touch people.”

Axel seemed to be excited about this, and he looked at her like a puppy who was expecting praise.

“Don’t worry about others. Think of it as a way that can help you prepare for the things that are coming.”, Talia said. “It’s a very useful ability to have. Congratulations, Axel. And thank you for sharing this with me.”

Axel puffed his chest proudly. This was the first time for Talia to appreciate him openly. He felt like a big brother that his little sister admired.

“I will keep practicing, and I hope it will come in handy.”, he said.

Axel really wanted to be useful to Talia. Since he found out that his parents were the ones who gave Talia away when she was a baby, the guilt was eating him alive, like he was the one who did it.

Axel spent many sleepless nights wondering how could Sophia and Isaac be such devoted parents after giving away Valerian’s child. Maybe Isaac didn’t feel much because Valerian was a stranger to him. However, to Sophia, Valerian was her older brother, Talia was her niece, Natalia Moonrider was an innocent baby, a member of the Midnight Guardians pack, with the blood of the Alpha in her veins, yet they abandoned her while justifying how the life of one was not important compared to the safety of the pack.

The twisted thing was that their pack was not in danger at all; it was all because of Cassandra’s prophecy. Anyone with half a brain would know how prophecies were not reliable, and at most they spoke about things that MIGHT happen.

What other despicable acts did his parents do and brush off like they were nothing?

Axel was touched that even after knowing the truth, Talia still wanted him to be her proxy. The truth was that if she dismissed him, he wouldn’t object.

As the only daughter of the Valerian Moonrider, Talia was the rightful Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, and she had no obligation to share that position with Axel nor to give him any benefits. She could put Sophia and Isaac in the dungeon (or execute them) and imprison Axel also because he might retaliate against Talia for punishing his parents. Instead of doing any of that, Talia was treating him as equal and allowing him to lead the pack and stay in the main house with Yasmin and… Axel finally saw what a graceful Alpha is, and he hoped that he won’t disappoint her.

Unaware of Axel’s turbulent emotions, Talia was imagining Axel standing by her side in meetings with other Alphas, and he would mind-link her about what others were scheming. She completely forgot her initial thoughts about not using the abilities of her pack members because Axel’s power was too handy to have.

If Axel was with her at the Council of the Alphas, she would avoid several nasty situations, like the one when Alpha Edward kissed her hand. Even after all this time, it still felt slimy, and Talia had an urge to wash her hands.

~ An unknown location ~

Three people were in a spacious room that belonged to a setting of an ancient castle with gray stone walls decorated with red and golden tapestries which hung between long and narrow windows.

A strip of simple red carpet extended from the heavy wooden door passing right in the middle of symmetrically arranged twenty empty chairs that stood empty, ten on each side. The red carpet was wide enough for three people to walk side-by-side without touching each other, yet it looked narrow compared to the big floor it covered to end at the edge of the elevated podium, which hosted two elegant chairs, resembling thrones fit for a king and queen.

Other than twenty-two chairs, there was no other furniture in the room.

A middle-aged man with a head full of black curly hair was sitting on the right chair that was on the elevated podium. He was Gregory Mello, the leader of the Guardians.

Julian was below the podium, on his knee, with his head hung low in front of Gregory.

Declyn stood on the side, leaning on the wall, and observing the scene of Julian apologizing (again) for failing to get a positive response from the Midnight Guardians pack.

If Talia could peek into this room, she would recognize Julian and Declyn as two Guardians who attended the Council of the Alphas. At that time, Julian used his real name, and Declyn introduced himself as Dex, the one who said he was in charge of the Sphere of Power.

“I’m sorry, but Alpha Talia is not responding. With the current approach, this is as far as I can accomplish.”, Julian said.

“Maybe we should give her more time.”, Declyn said.

“More time?” Gregory asked, his deep voice full of irritation echoed in the massive room. “She had plenty of time to think about meeting with us. She wanted to know more, but now it seems she changed her mind.” Gregory glared at Julian. “How much did you tell her?”

Julian raised his gaze to meet Gregory’s.

“I left a message that we are willing to talk.”

“It was obviously not good enough”, Gregory said in a clipped tone. “Give her more information. Show her that we are willing to share.”

“Are we going to tell her about us?” Julian asked.

“Of course not.”, Declyn said from the side. “Outsiders shouldn’t know what we are. We are not going to change our rules because of one female.”

Julian felt that they were unreasonable. “How can I show her that we are willing to talk without telling her anything? If I make a promise and then back out of it, her already shaky trust in us will collapse completely.”

“We don’t share with outsiders, but she won’t be one for long.”, Gregory said.

“She didn’t seem willing to join us.”, Julian reminded him. Talia refused them after the Council of Alphas, and her not accepting their requests for meetings was not a good sign either.

“That’s why your job is to give her enough so that she becomes curious, then interested, and then she will be ours.”, Gregory said to Julian. “Do I need to teach you how to do it?”

Julian wanted to protest, but he knew that it would only make Gregory snap at him. He got a mission to get a meeting with Talia, and his duty was to make it happen. It’s been a long time since Gregory got so excited about a person.

It’s not that Julian didn’t think that Talia should become one of them, but over the centuries, they had many women of different backgrounds join their clan, and it didn’t work out, so Julian didn’t want to get his hopes up. But at the same time, he didn’t dare speak against Gregory, so he bowed his head.

“I understand.”, Julian said and left the room with heavy steps.

“Do you think he will succeed?”, Declyn asked.

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