Chapter 732 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

‘I will tell them what happened,’ Maya said to Dayson through the pack mind-link, to which he nodded, and Maya moved to intercept the newcomers.

“What’s going on?” Kalina asked Maya while craning her neck to see where Dayson and Talia were looking. Was there something on the ground?

Maya waved like it was not important. “Just a rogue. They will end him in a moment. You might want to look away.”

“No…” Varya said under her breath and rushed that way.

Varya’s sight was obstructed by bushes, but there was a distinct scent of oranges that didn’t belong there, and her wolf was going crazy, which could mean only one thing.

The rogue scrambled to his feet and looked at Talia nervously.

“Wait. Wait,” he pleaded. He had no idea what Talia was up to, but he knew it was nothing good. “Can we talk about this?”

Talia had no intention of chatting. She was about to force her way into the rogue’s mind when…

“NO!” Varya shouted and threw herself at the male who was quick to catch her.

“Move aside, woman,” Dayson grumbled at Varya. He knew that was Kalina’s sister, but he forgot her name.

Seeing that Varya had no intention of moving, Dayson’s temper flared. Why did it take so long to kill this bug?

“The thing you are protecting is a rogue, and he is…”

“Varya’s mate,” Talia ended Dayson’s sentence, and Dayson gaped at Talia.

“What did you say?” Jaeden asked, wondering if his ears malfunctioned.

It was rare for rogues to be mated, but it was not unheard of. Unfortunately, due to their wild nature, rogues were not known as the most loyal mates. Needless to say that those couples don’t find their happy ending as the rogue usually ends up exploiting his (or her) mate.

Jaeden didn’t know much about Varya besides her name and that she was one of five Wilkow sisters, but he already felt sorry for the female. Kalina and Tatiana were mated to Alphas, and Daria and Lidia to established warriors, and what all four had in common were that their mates adored them. As for Varya and this rogue, Jaeden had a bad feeling.

“They are mates,” Talia repeated.

Dayson needed a moment to process this information. How he saw this, Kalina’s sister and the rogue being mates didn’t change a thing. “I’m sorry for your unfortunate destiny, but the sooner you step away from each other, the less painful it will be.”

Dayson looked at Kalina, who was only a few steps away now with Maya by her side. “How about you get your sister out of here?”

“We can’t kill him,” Talia said.

Dayson couldn’t believe this. “What?”

“Look at them,” Talia said.

Varya was holding onto the rogue, and he was trying to push her to stand behind him. When that didn’t work, he turned his back to Talia and Dayson, blocking Varya from their view.

“He is a rogue!” Dayson said, believing that this explained how that guy shouldn’t be left alive. “Do you know how much trouble they are causing? Do you know how many people they harmed? Just tonight, at least a dozen warriors perished! Lulu is dead!”

Varya’s eyes filled with tears. Her heart ached, it really did, but how could she choose between what’s right and her other half? Her wolf howled and scratched to come out at the thought of Varya abandoning this orange-infused man.

“Then kill me with him,” Varya said.

“Don’t harm her! I never killed a person,” the rogue said. “I am a messenger, a scout. I’m…”

“Stop talking,” Talia said. “If you say too much, if you even think about betraying your leader, you might burst into flames.”

The rogue wondered if he heard this right. Were they giving up on killing him, or was the leader-lady with silvery eyes saying that only so his mate doesn’t get hurt? He tightened his hold on Varya, just in case.

“Don’t try to separate us. If he goes to the dungeon, I will go with him.” Varya said in a shaky voice.

Kalina couldn’t believe this. She heard plenty of stories about rogues to know that they were trouble. “Let go of my sister, you… you… animal!”

“I’m holding onto him as well,” Varya protested.

“Do you know him from before?” Kalina asked.

Varya looked into the rogue’s eyes. “My soul knows him. That’s enough.”

The scene of Varya defending him fiercely made him forget that just a few seconds ago, four people were set on killing him. She was his mate, and she smelled of peanut butter, the one he had loved to eat since he was a child. His favorite part was licking the jar clean, and he knew that he loved her already.

Jaeden raised his hands toward Varya, palms up, to get her attention. “Varya, I know things in Europe are different, and you didn’t grow up in a pack. But rogues are dangerous. They will steal and kill without blinking.”

“I can tell he is not dangerous,” Varya said stubbornly. How could he be dangerous? He was her other half, and his eyes were full of wonder and affection even though he didn’t know her name. “I am Varya.”

“Varya.” He repeated. “I am Grady.”

“Grady,” she said dreamily while tracing with her finger his jaw that was covered in a few days old stubble. “It suits you.”

Kalina was unsure what to think of the scene in front of her, and she was not the only one.

Varya and Grady stared at each other, they were mates who found their other half, which should be a good thing, but this was different.

“No kissing!” Kalina exclaimed, making Varya and Grady look her way. “If you truly care about my sister, you will control your urge to kiss her, mark her, or mate her until we clarify your status.”

Grady nodded right away, and only then Kalina realized that his so-called tight clothes were just bodypaint. He was naked!

“Put some clothes on! And stop clinging to my sister! Scoundrel!” Kalina hissed, releasing some of her Alpha aura that made both Varya and Grady take a step back from Kalina.

Talia smiled sadly at the scene because even when faced with Kalina’s Alpha pressure, Grady was quick to stand in front of Varya protectively. Somehow, it told Talia that things were not all bad as there was some good in the world.

Dayson looked at Talia and asked through their mind-link, ‘What do you want to do with the rogue? What if he killed our people? Do you want me to handle him?’

Talia was not sure what was the right thing to do. She was aware that her emotions were unstable. So many things happened, and until Varya jumped on Grady, Talia actually wanted to kill him. What was wrong with her? Did the darkness creep into her heart again, or was it the harsh reality?

Whichever it was, Talia knew that if she made a rash decision, she would regret it.

‘Let’s think about this,’ Talia said. ‘We can’t kill him without evidence, not with Varya being his mate. If he is not one of the bad guys, he will help us out.’

‘What if he backstabs us?’

‘Then, we will kill him.’

Dayson cocked an eyebrow at Talia. He sensed that her hostility was fizzling down, and he was not sure if that was a good thing or not.

Adrenaline helped Talia move after what happened to Lulu, but now that Talia was calming down, Dayson was watching her and wondering if she will collapse due to heartache.

Kalina’s rant at Varya and her newly-found mate broke the grim atmosphere filled with death that suffocated them, and Talia could breathe easier.

Dayson spoke to his Betas, “Jaeden, can you get some clothes for him? The two of you will escort them to the packhouse and keep an eye on him until Alpha Maddox decides how to handle him.”

“What about the self-combusting thing?” Maya asked. She had no problems escorting a rogue, but she was uncomfortable with the idea of him becoming a man-torch and possibly harming people around him.

Talia was thinking about it since she realized that the body paint on rogues was enchanted. “Call Cornelia to check on him. She might be able to remove it. Also, if I’m right that it’s due to the paint, a shower might wash it away.”

Maya thought about how it made sense, but… wasn’t that a too simple solution? Can evil spells be washed away with water?

“Keith and Caleb will take care of Lulu,” Dayson said to Talia. “We should also go to the packhouse.”

Talia really wanted to go to the packhouse, but… “We can’t go. We need to help Max and his men find jamming devices. Until Max’s warriors can communicate properly, we are all in danger.”

Dayson agreed with this, but he had a condition, “We are doing it together. No separating.”

He was still angry because Talia didn’t listen. Why couldn’t she stay put in the packhouse?

Sure, she is powerful, and she found these jamming devices, and thanks to a strange twist in events, even Varya found her mate, a rogue that might be a significant asset if he agrees to cooperate. But none of those would be worth a squat if Talia was hurt… or worse. And he knew that the scar of Lulu’s death will take forever to heal. His kitten had her brave face on, but Dayson could feel she was on the verge of cracking.

“You can’t comb this forest on your own,” Kalina said. “Tony is with Max. Tell me what you need, and I will send them a message.”

“First, inform him about these devices.”, Talia said. “They are obstructing the mind-link and Alpha’s aura. We found one hidden among the roots of…” Talia’s breath hitched at the mental image of her and Lulu bickering about who will flip the switch. It felt like just a minute ago, Lulu was right there, closing her eyes in panic while bracing herself for an explosion that never came.

“It will be alright,” Dayson spoke softly while pulling Talia into his embrace, guessing that Talia was breaking down again because of Lulu.

She buried her face into his chest. “Does the pain go away?”

“No,” he said. “But you learn to accept it as your new normal. Think of your memories as a way of honoring the ones who died.”

Dayson’s heart ached as Talia sobbed into his chest. He told himself that it was all part of the process she had to go through. Bad things happen to good people, and there was nothing they could do about it.

After an unknown measure of time, Talia peeled herself from Dayson. She glanced embarrassingly to see that Maya, Jaeden, Kalina, Varya, and Grady were there, all pretending to not notice her meltdown.

Talia wiped her cheeks with the back of her palm.

She frowned at the wet patch of tears and snot on Dayson’s t-shirt, and somehow… it reminded her of an evening next to the lake, where she ruined his designer’s shirt, and he forced her to touch his chest, and then they watched fireworks. That memory felt like it was from ages ago as so many things have happened since then.

At that time, Talia was shy around Dayson, reluctant to get closer, yet now she needed him more than air. He was her home.

“You need another t-shirt,” she said.

“I will keep this one. Like this, parts of you will always be with me.”

“How about you get another t-shirt, and I stay with you?”

Jaeden was already passing a t-shirt to Dayson, but Dayson didn’t take it.

Dayson was focused on Talia. “Do you promise to not leave my side?”

“Don’t make it sound like this separation was my fault,” Talia grumbled. “You were the one running out to fight rogues, and you told me to stay inside.”

Dayson knew that he was at fault here, but… “I did it for your safety.”

This reminded Talia of one thing she didn’t tell Dayson. She was not sure how others will react, so she spoke through their mind-link. ‘They were here for me, Dayson.’

Dayson felt his hair rising. ‘What?’

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