Damon swallowed hard at the hostility that was tangible. Surely, this must be a misunderstanding. Why would Talia's wolf be aggressive toward him?
Damon reminded himself to leave a good first impression. "Hello. My name is Damon Blake. I am the Alpha of the Dark Howlers pack. As you probably know already, Talia is my mate. I was looking forward to you waking…"
"Save it for someone who cares!", Talia's wolf cut him off angrily. "You are a stinky boy, not worthy to be her mate."
Damon was flabbergasted. This definitely confirmed that the hostility was real.
He was not sure what's going on, but his instincts told him that if he retaliates, it won't end well.
"I know. No one is worthy of Talia."
"You are less worthy than the others. Promiscuous bastard."
Anxiety swelled inside Damon. He could clearly feel the loathing directed his way. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything about my past. However, since Talia came to this packhouse, I didn't touch any other woman." This was the truth.
Talia's wolf narrowed her eyes at him.
While Talia's emotions went haywire due to the video of Marcy that Damon took at the Red Moon pack, Talia's wolf stirred right on time to hear Talia's thoughts about how Damon was at the Red Moon pack only three days, and that he bumped into Talia on the first day.
Even if Talia's wolf ignores the fact that their first encounter included Marcy giving a blow job to Damon, the timestamp on the file confirms that the video was taken one day AFTER Damon and Talia met, and that is one full day AFTER Damon identified Talia is his mate.
And Talia's wolf found in Talia's jumbled thoughts how Damon said that since he met Talia, no other woman exists for him. If that was the truth, how could he touch Marcy like this? And who knows what else Damon and Marcy did after the video was cut off?
Talia's wolf doubted that a scoundrel like Damon would pass on the chance to sleep with a naked she-wolf who was moaning words like, "I want you to put your big cock in my pussy and fuck me hard, Alpha Damon." Disgusting.
No woman with self-respect will say such words aloud. And she knew that she was being recorded. Slut.
The only good thing was that Talia didn't feel the bond at that time, because the pain of her mate being with another woman would be unbearable. Talia only watched a video and her heart shattered.
Talia's wolf had no intention of letting Damon get close to Talia.
"You recognized her as your mate before she came to your packhouse. Are you saying that the video of a naked woman begging you to fuck her while you fondled her generously was taken before you met your mate?"
Damon's brows furrowed in confusion. What video? Maya also mentioned a video, but nothing made sense.
After two seconds of silence, Talia's wolf continued, "Are you pretending that you don't know? Selective amnesia? How convenient."
"I don't know what are you talking about.", Damon said. "Since I met Talia…"
Damon's voice trailed when Talia's wolf rotated the monitor in slow motion for Damon to see the screen.
It was a frozen video at the scene of Marcy's bare ass and Damon's hand reaching at the cradle of her thighs. Damon's face was not in the frame, but Damon recognized the situation, and he knew that he is the other party involved.
He forgot about this.
Damon cursed internally as pieces fell into place.
"This is not what it looks like. There is nothing going on between Marcy and me. I will make sure that Marcy never comes here, and Talia won't see her ever again."
"Marcy", Talia's wolf said thoughtfully, like she was trying to memorize the name. "Will you tell this Marcy person that you found your mate?"
"Absolutely!", Damon said without missing a beat. "Not just to her, but to everyone."
"Don't.", Talia's wolf said curtly. "I don't want you to label this girl as yours. She put her trust in you and this is what she got. Do you plan to humiliate her in front of everyone? How much will you hurt her until you are satisfied? You call yourself her mate but..."
Talia's face scrunched into a grimace for a moment and the silvery glow faded. Damon knew that Talia was fighting her wolf for control.
Things shouldn't be like that.
Talia's wolf should be her ally, her best friend, and not someone she fights against. And Damon knew that the ongoing fight was because of him.
Damon was convinced that Talia's wolf coming out will solve their problems and not add more to them. And he felt like crap because his past actions were hurting both of them.
Talia had nothing to do with it, yet she was suffering over and over again because of him. Talia's wolf was right. Damon doesn't deserve her… but he was not willing to give up either. Nothing made sense without Talia.
Damon was exasperated. He didn't sleep with Marcy at all, and this video was only to expose Marcy! But he had a feeling that Talia's wolf won't listen.
Damon was confident that Talia's wolf can feel his emotions through the mate bond, but maybe regret doesn't count after the harm was done.
The thought of him shagging Nora flashed from the back of his mind, preventing him from saying how he kept it in his pants since he met Talia. Damn it!
Talia's wolf sneered. "Your conscience is not clean."
Anxiety swelled within Damon. Is she going to reject him?
"Don't worry, I won't reject you."
Damon paused. Can she read minds?
"I don't need to read minds. It's all over your face."
Damon was confused. Does this mean that she CAN read minds, or not?
"You are lucky that this girl loves you. You better prove your sincerity and be the man she needs. But if you harm her again, I won't hesitate in taking her away. She is better on her own than with a cheating bastard like you."
Damon ignored the cheating comment. "How do I prove my sincerity?"
"Invite Marcy here and clear the air in front of everyone. If you mess up, there won't be the next chance."
And with that, the silver from Talia's eyes disappeared and Talia slumped back into the chair, exhausted and covered in sweat like she just ran a marathon.
"Kitten…", Damon rushed to kneel next to Talia, cupping her cheeks with desperation to see her loving eyes directed at him.
'What did you do?', Talia asked her wolf mentally.
'I did what you should have done a long time ago. Mate or not, he doesn't get to mistreat you. That is not why I gave my vitality so that you can survive.', Talia's wolf said, and Talia could feel through all that grumpiness genuine concern that moved her.
'If you were not on the verge of collapsing, I wouldn't come out, but it was too soon. I need to rest more. Don't let him mark you until he deals with that slut, and if he just looks at another woman in the wrong way…', the voice drifted away.
'Hello? Are you still there?', Talia called, but there was no response.
Talia met Damon's icy-blue eyes full of questions and her chin shivered.
Her wolf woke up and took over, and even though Talia didn't have control over her body, she was able to see and hear everything that happened.
Talia knew that Damon has a past, and she thought that she made peace with it because they are mates and none of the women who passed through his arms previously matter, but that video was a bitter pill to swallow, and it made Talia die on the inside.
The feeling of his hand on her face, the same hand that fondled Marcy's private parts, got Talia's bile rising and she pushed his hands away.
"Don't touch me.", she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
She got up from the chair with difficulty and made her way around him.
"What are you doing?", Talia asked when Damon hugged her from behind.
"I took that video only to incriminate Marcy. I never slept with her."
Talia snorted. "Was something wrong with Marcy? You slept with pretty much everyone else."
"Not after I acknowledged we are mates.", Damon could say this with sincerity but he knew that was not enough. "I admit. When I saw you the first time my wolf told me we are mates but I didn't know what to do with that information. I didn't understand what it means to discover your other half and until I met you, I was convinced that I don't want a mate. Two days later, I found you in the attic and I realized that I can't move on without you. Your scent, the sparks, and the sudden need to care for you were overwhelming and I felt like a teenager who fell in love for the first time as every next day confirmed that you are my only one that matters. Since you came to this packhouse, you were with me most of the time. If I was not working, I was with you. I didn't touch any other woman, no matter how many of them were around me. You need to believe me."
