"So, now that you are at the Dark Howlers pack, what are you doing?", Mindy asked Talia.
"I'm helping in the kitchen."
Mindy cocked an eyebrow. "Alpha Damon put you to work right away?"
"No, no.", Talia quickly said. "I asked to work in the kitchen because I wanted to learn how to cook. Besides, sitting in the room the whole day is boring." Seeing that Mindy's expression showed approval, Talia had an urge to leave a good impression, so she added, "I'm also studying about medicine with the hope to work in the pack hospital, and I'm training to improve my physical condition and learn to fight."
"Really?"
Talia nodded earnestly and gestured toward the table where Keith was. "Keith is my personal trainer.. He designed an exercise routine for me. We will be going to the training center from here…"
"Oh, you will not stay at the festival?", Mindy interrupted Talia. She was looking forward to being part of a group.
Sure, there are Sandy, Lulu, Pierce, Liam, and Caden, but all of them are looking at Mindy with stars in their eyes, while Talia is treating Mindy like a normal person, so Mindy preferred Talia compared to other people.
"We will not go right away.", Talia responded. "It won't be good to exercise immediately after lunch. If you want, you can join us for training. Keith is a great coach."
Now that they broke the ice, Talia thought that Mindy is a nice person.
Mindy pursed her lips. "No, thanks. I will skip on sweating." She stood up abruptly. "Alright, since you won't be here long, we should start checking out this fair. Your friends seem to be eager to move…"
Talia and Keith headed to the training center for their session in the gym, and Talia was in a daze.
After finishing lunch, for more than an hour, they were checking out various booths and she even got to throw balls on empty cans. Talia's aim was horrible even after Mindy showed her several throwing techniques, but Talia had a lot of fun.
The best part was that maybe, just maybe, Talia made a new friend. Mindy.
The two of them spoke a lot and the mood was good, and before Talia left, Mindy gave Talia her personal phone number with, "We will be here until tomorrow, but things can get crazy, and I want to make sure we can stay in touch no matter how things develop…"
Mindy was not pleased that Talia doesn't have an email address or a phone, but Talia promised that she will contact Mindy as soon as she gets one of those two.
With this, Talia had Axel's and Mindy's phone numbers, and that made it two!
Talia kept Mindy's number safe, determined to contact Mindy as soon as she gets a phone.
Mindy also said that she hopes to spend more time with Talia before they leave the Dark Howlers pack, and Talia was looking forward to it.
Talia couldn't help but compare Mindy and Marcy. Both of them are princesses in their respective packs, but Marcy is a white lotus who would ruthlessly punish Talia without evidence, while Mindy is kind and approachable, and most importantly, Mindy treated Talia as equal. Talia liked that. She liked it a lot.
It was all surreal.
"Are you alright?", Keith asked Talia.
"Yes. Why?"
"You are limping."
"Oh…" Talia was so excited, that she didn't notice. "It seems that the medication wore off."
Keith frowned. "What medication?"
"Hangover medication."
Keith was confused. "You are limping because of a hangover?" It didn't make sense.
Talia stifled a laugh when she realized how silly that sounded. "No, no. My legs are aching due to sore muscles after yesterday's exercise, and hangover medicine was for the aches, so…" Talia paused because Keith was laughing so hard that he was holding onto his belly. "What's funny?"
"Ah… ah…" Keith struggled to catch his breath. "You said that warmup from yesterday gave you sore muscles."
Talia pouted. "Warmup for you. Strenuous exercise for me." She really was useless.
"It's not what you said, it's more how you said it…", Keith said. Talia was talking about her yesterday's brisk walking with importance like it was a monumental activity.
"I apologize. I won't laugh at you."
"You better not, or I will get a different personal trainer."
Keith smirked smugly. "You are out of luck, girl. I'm the only one in Darkbourne, so you are stuck with me."
"That doesn't make you indispensable.", Talia fired back. "I can always find someone online."
Keith hummed in agreement, and they continued walking in silence.
Keith was thinking if it's appropriate to ask a question that was bugging him since lunch. Eventually, his curiosity won.
"Talia?"
"Hmm?"
"Is there something going on between you and Alpha?"
This time, Talia didn't ask, 'which one', because she knew that Keith was asking about Damon.
Talia shook her head, dispelling any fleeting thoughts that were forming. "There is nothing."
"Are you sure? The two of you looked close." Very close. Especially when they went on the side, after lunch. Keith saw that Damon leaned closer to whisper something to Talia, and Damon pinched her nose, and Keith also saw the way Talia smiled at Damon. That was definitely something.
"Of course, we are close.", Talia said right away. "I don't know where I would be if not for him." Maybe still in that attic, or somewhere much worse. "Alpha Damon is making sure I go to my doctor's appointments and sometimes he scolds me when I miss my meals."
Keith paused. How can Damon know about Talia's meals, unless… "You are staying in the packhouse?"
Well, that would explain why Alpha Damon would take Talia's trophy and jersey with pins, but it would NOT explain why Alpha runs errands for a low-ranking girl. Alphas don't do that. They are Alphas because others serve them. Even if Alpha Damon wanted to help Talia and ease her hands of burden, he would get someone else to do it, instead of handling it personally.
A mix of emotions washed over Talia at the thought of her living arrangements, and her smile faded. "I'm at the packhouse until Doctor Travis says that I recuperated enough to move in with Omegas. I'm underweight and…"
"It's OK.", Keith interrupted Talia. He saw that her mood dropped, and he assumed that he crossed the line. "You don't need to talk about it if it's uncomfortable. I'm sorry for making fun of you because you got sore muscles."
"Don't be sorry.", Talia said quickly. "I will eat and exercise and soon I will build my strength and stamina so no one can laugh at me. Not even famous coach Keith."
Keith liked her enthusiasm. And he liked that she labeled him as famous.
At that time, they reached the training center, and Keith said, "Change clothes and meet me on the mat. Since you are sore, today I will show you stretching exercises that will ease aches."
Talia nodded earnestly and she didn't want to tell him that the moment she enters the dressing room, she will take two pills of hangover medicine which she has in her insulated bag. It won't hurt to learn how to stretch. She wanted to learn everything that can be learned.
Talia walked into the women's dressing room and Keith stood frozen and looked at the door that closed behind Talia.
Why the hell did he ask if there is something between Talia and Alpha Damon? That's none of his business. What if Talia misunderstands and thinks that Keith wants to hit on her?
Does Keith want something to happen between him and Talia? Keith was not sure. But he knew that talking to her was easy and he craved more time with Talia.
He was thinking about Talia as his customer, a friend, but now… Keith was not sure.
During lunch, Talia was sitting at the table between Damon and Maddox, with Axel on the other side, all three Alphas were looking at Talia with interest, and Keith was suppressing his urge to go there and take Talia away.
If he went there, Keith knew that he would fail miserably.
Keith sparred a few times against Alpha Damon, and it's an established fact that Keith can't win even if Damon doesn't use his aura, because just Damon's Alpha aura is enough to make it painful to breathe.
If Keith dared to challenge Damon and two more Alphas at the same time… Keith hated that he was helpless to save Talia from there. Did she even need saving?
How Keith saw it, Talia was like an unspoiled flower, with three nasty Alpha wolves breathing down her neck, each eager to ruin her, and Keith found it difficult to stay away.
Keith didn't understand. So far, other than his sister, he never felt the urge to protect a woman.
A lot of things related to Talia were confusing, and the more time Keith spent with Talia, the less sense everything made.
'Was Katya right?', Keith wondered. 'Do I really like Talia?'
Do werewolves have crushes? Sure, Keith was attracted to many women before, but it was purely physical and this was different. Keith wanted to know everything about Talia and to protect her and she was cute and… Keith pinched the roof of his nose.
Damn it! He has a crush on Talia!
Based on the internal waves that amplified his emotions, Keith understood that his wolf approves.
Keith chided himself. During lunch he was thinking badly of three Alphas who were wanting to woo Talia, yet here was Keith, just as bad as they are.
