Damon realized that noisy machines were attached to him, and he yanked the cables from his body, making the whole room fall into deafening silence.
Travis stared at his feet and pretended not to see Talia scrambling to cover herself, but Damon's vicious aura was difficult to ignore.
Damon was ready to jump on Travis and hurt him badly, but Talia was holding onto him, and Damon didn't want to expose her by moving away.
Travis was unsure if it was safer to leave or stay, and before he could decide, Damon growled at him.
"Why are you here?"
Travis hesitated. It was obvious what Damon and Talia were about to do, and the fact that Damon's increased heart rate caused machines to go crazy, confirmed Travis's guess.
Travis knew that he interrupted something that shouldn't be interrupted, but with the alarms ringing, he thought that Damon was in critical condition, and the poor doctor was already here. Now what?
"You are awake. I need to check your condition.", Travis said stoically.
"Check later!", Damon snapped.
Seeing that Travis stood rooted in the spot, Damon thought about sending the good Doctor to survival training in the mountains. He could join coach Keith and the soccer team.
Travis's instincts told him not to oppose Damon, but he needed to do his job. How can he persuade a horny Alpha to listen?
Travis got an idea… "If your results are fine, you can go home."
Damon's frown deepened. He was fine, more than fine, until Travis showed up.
"I want to go home. We should get checked…", Talia said to Damon in a whisper. She wanted confirmation that Damon's wounds truly healed and that there are no side effects from wolfsbane.
Damon closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. "OK." He waved at Travis impatiently. "Hurry up! And get us some clothes…"
…
"I never saw anything like it. This is amazing!", Travis exclaimed while looking at Talia's and Damon's test results.
"Is that a good amazing?", Talia asked while trying to figure out why was Travis so excited. She was behind the privacy screen, putting on a t-shirt and pants that nurses brought for her to change into.
The clothes she was brought in were dirty.
"If I didn't examine you myself earlier today, I would assume that you were not hurt at all.", Travis responded.
"Since we are good, we can leave. Right?" Damon was eager to leave and maximize his time with Talia. His mate. Now that she knew they are mates, there were so many things for them to do. Like sex, talk about babies, sex, her Luna ceremony, sex...
Travis really wanted to do more tests, but he could see that Damon's displeasure was growing with every moment of silence. "You can leave. But come back tomorrow for another…"
"We will come when we get time.", Damon cut him off and turned to Talia who stepped out from behind the privacy screen. "Let's go home."
Talia looked at Damon who was wearing only a pair of shorts and then asked Travis, "Don't you have a t-shirt to give him?"
"I don't need it." Damon was used to walking around topless. It was nothing new. Besides, nudity was normal for werewolves.
Talia narrowed her eyes at him. "Really? Then, I will remove my top."
Damon couldn't believe it. "What?"
Talia pursed her lips stubbornly. "If you can go out like that, so can I."
Talia clutched the edge of her t-shirt like she wanted to remove it, and Damon was quick to hold her hands.
Damon guessed that Talia was bluffing. She is shy and there was no way she would walk around exposed, but Damon knew that Talia was trying to make a point and he had no intention to anger her.
"Travis, find me a t-shirt.", Damon said, and Travis hid his laughter behind a cough.
Travis wanted to tease Damon. The almighty Alpha found his match, but Travis knew that if he says that aloud, he would get punished, so he kept that for himself.
Talia and Damon returned to the packhouse in time for dinner.
Before entering the packhouse, Damon stood in front of Talia and looked at her seriously.
"I need to tell you one thing.", he said. "Maya and Caden know we are mates."
Talia stared at Damon in disbelief. "You told them and not me?"
"I didn't tell anyone. The two of them guessed based on my behavior.", Damon quickly said in his defense. It was the almost truth. They guessed, but Damon still told Caden. Talia didn't need to know this small detail.
Talia was curious. "You acted differently with me?"
"I brought you home, arranged for you to stay on the third floor, cared about your wellbeing, and modified my schedule so that we can spend time together. I never did that before, for anyone."
Damon wanted to say that she can ask Maya, but he was aware that Maya could blabber about his previous behavior, and that could backfire big time.
"I know I made mistakes, kitten. And I will probably make more. Now that you know we are mates, I hope you will tell me when I mess up something. I was an ass who never cared for a female. You are my first."
Talia liked that she was his first in something, but she had a condition, "I need you to promise that you won't hide things from me. If something is related to me, or us, I want you to tell me."
"I can do that.", Damon said and made a cross on his chest with his index finger, to indicate his sincerity.
"And no double standards.", Talia added. "We are equal. If you can do something, so can I. If you want to walk around half-naked, think if you would be OK with me doing the same thing."
Damon nodded in agreement. "Anything else?"
"That's it. For now.", Talia said.
Damon glanced at the front door of the packhouse. "Steph and Lisa don't know we are mates. Do you want to tell them?"
Talia paused at this question. It was not only about Stephanie and Lisa but about everyone else. Damon said how he hid the fact they are mates in order to protect Talia and she wanted to know what changed that now he was eager to announce it. But she could guess how that would be a lengthy conversation, so she decided to keep it for later.
Talia didn't think it would matter if Stephanie knew, but Lisa… "Let's take this slow. To be honest, I'm still processing the information."
Damon had no intention to rush Talia into anything. He was waiting until now, and he can wait a bit longer, however… "We should at least say we are in a relationship. It will send a message to other women who are…" Damon's voice trailed when he saw Talia glaring at him.
Talia remembered Cassie, Marcy, Ashley, Heather, and numerous other heated gazes directed his way, and Talia's dejection swelled.
How Talia saw this, if Damon was not promiscuous, there wouldn't be so many women buzzing around him. And being an Alpha is not a justification. Axel and Tony also have Alpha bloodline and they are not shagging everything that has two legs and is wearing a skirt.
"No", Talia said with determination. "I don't want you to use me as a shield against women who want to crawl into your bed. Clean your own mess."
"OK", Damon agreed immediately. He felt Talia's irritation and didn't want to add to it. They will talk about it later.
Talia thought they are about to get into the packhouse, but Damon was holding her hand and he didn't move while his intense gaze was focused on her, so she had to ask, "Anything else?"
Damon smiled a little. "Welcome home, kitten."
Talia's heart swelled. Home. Somehow, that word had a different meaning because now she knew they were mates.
Talia always craved for a place where she would be accepted, a place where she would feel safe, a place where she could always return, a place where she could be herself… but that place was not a building or a spot on the map. It was Damon. He was her home.
Talia stepped close to Damon and wrapped her arms around him. "It's good to be home."
Damon let out a laugh full of joy while gathering Talia against him.
If someone told him that he will be this happy just because a female accepted him, he would call that person a liar, but here he was, holding his kitten in his arms, feeling her body pressing against his, and he was absolutely happy just because she was hugging him back. It was surreal.
"We should go inside", Damon spoke into her hair. "The others are waiting for us."
Before Talia could respond, Damon scooped her into his arms and carried her into the packhouse, princess style.
It would be romantic if his hand was not squeezing her ass.
Talia glared at Damon, but he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.
She burst into giggles at his silly behavior. Butt-squeezing or not, they both survived today's crisis, they were together, and she was happy.
Talia's giggles stopped abruptly when she realized that Damon was carrying her straight into the dining room from where voices could be heard.
