~ The Dark Howlers Pack ~
It was early morning when Dawn and Zina left their apartment building with Lily and Ivy. Their destination was the packhouse.
With all the guests present (and four additional ones on their way), they had extra work related to setting up and preparing breakfast, and they didn't want to be late.
Dawn, Zina, Lily, and Ivy spent the previous evening in the Shifters nightclub, and even though neither of them left the club with a man, the four of Omegas had a lot of fun.
Lily and Ivy were surprised that several guys invited them to dance, and no one asked about their status. Everyone was friendly regardless of background, and for two Omegas from the Lightclaw pack, that was novel.
They were also surprised to hear that at the Shifters nightclub, there is a VIP booth that Alpha Damon is using. Ivy and Lily never saw their Alpha mingling with common folks.
Lily and Ivy were happy that their future Alpha (aka Tony) was associating himself with the Dark Howlers pack, and they hoped that their pack will adopt some of the liberal practices they observed so far.
The Omega duo was at the Dark Howlers pack for a full day, and they already experienced so many memorable moments. They were eager to head to the packhouse and start working because they had a feeling that this day will also be full of interesting events. Once they clean up after breakfast, important people will go about their business. Dawn and Zina promised to take Ivy and Lily during that downtime to Darkbourne to visit the town square and shops that are there. Exciting!
"Ester?", Dawn called when she saw the person in question leaning on her car. "Do you mind moving to idle on another vehicle? We are in a hurry."
"I was waiting for you.", Ester responded.
"Reeeaaaly?", Zina drawled. Last night she and Dawn were swarmed by many who wanted to know more about the group that was part of the VIP bunch at the beach that day, and they could guess Ester was here for gossip material.
Well, they were not wrong.
"Oh, come on!", Ester exclaimed when she saw that both Zina and Dawn were frowning at her. "I only wanted to ask a few questions. You can choose not to answer."
"Fine. Then we will not answer.", Dawn said stiffly. "Now, can you move? We don't want to be late."
Ester shrugged. "As you wish. Since you don't want to talk to me, I can't force you." She pushed herself away from the car. "It seems you want to hog the information about the wolf-less she-wolf who seduced our Alpha."
Both Zina and Dawn froze. The wolf-less she-wolf didn't ring a bell, but who else could be described as the one who seduced Alpha Damon if not Talia?
"What did you say?", Dawn asked.
Ester raised her palms up defensively. "Woah! Lower the hostility, ladies. I'm just saying what I heard."
Zina's face was arranged into a deep frown. "And what did you hear?"
Ester smirked. Dawn and Zina acted all high and mighty because they were among the few Omegas allowed to work in the packhouse, but now Ester got their attention. That must count for something.
Ester eyed Dawn and Zina knowingly before she spoke, "Everyone knows that Talia is following Alpha Damon since the Summer Solstice festival. He rescued her from the Red Moon pack and gave her a job in the kitchen. Alpha Damon felt sorry for her, and she took advantage of that and ended up working as his assistant in the office and in his bedroom. She is even entertaining those high-ranking guests, but people wonder how long she will continue to maintain her position, considering that Marcy from the Red Moon pack is about to arrive."
Dawn was first to recover. "Who told you that?"
"People are talking."
"People?", Zina asked, and it took her a moment to connect the dots. "You mean, Lisa."
Everyone was aware that Ester and Lisa used to hang out together. And considering that Ester knew that Talia was working in the kitchen and as Alpha Damon's assistant, and about sharing a room, it was easy to figure out who was flapping her mouth.
"Is she wrong?", Ester asked, her eyes sparkling with a hunger for gossip.
Both Zina and Dawn knew that Talia and Damon were mates and that it was not the time to make it public. But, can they just leave it like this?
"Ester, Ester…", Dawn called bitterly. "I thought you are smarter than this."
"What?", Ester became defensive. "I was only asking."
"You didn't ask anything.", Dawn said. "You just parroted words of an abandoned woman who can't accept that she is no one without her boyfriend. But let's not talk about Lisa because she is not important just how it's not important if her words were true. Use your head, Ester. Do you think that Alpha Damon is easy to swindle? Do you think that a woman like Talia can trick him into accepting something against his will? Did you ever see him allow a woman to stick around for everyone to see? She was with him for several events, you saw them in the WW Magazine, and now she is acting as a host for high-ranking members from other packs."
Ester frowned at Dawn's words. "What are you trying to say?"
"She is saying that you should stop spreading malicious gossip.", Zina responded instead of Dawn. "If Alpha Damon hears you talking like this about a woman that's dear to him, you will end up in the dungeon, just like the rest of them."
"Dungeon?", Ester asked under her breath.
"Mmm…", Dawn hummed in confirmation. "It seems that Lisa told you how Talia is a scheming wolf-less moocher, but she didn't tell you that whoever offended her didn't find a good ending. Why do you think Lisa was kicked out of the packhouse? And if not for Steph being her mother, Lisa would be in the dungeon. Keep that tongue in check or start packing."
Dawn and Zina were unsettled after their talk with Ester.
Ester apologized and said that she will keep her mouth shut, but even if she sticks to her word, there was always a chance that Lisa spoke with more people.
With that in mind, Dawn and Zina decided to talk to Talia.
It would be all much simpler if Talia had a mind-link, but she didn't have one, so Dawn and Zina needed to be sneaky about it.
"How do you contact Talia?", Dawn asked Stephanie who was waiting for them in the packhouse.
"I reach out to Alpha Damon, and he notifies Talia. Most of the time they are together.", Stephanie responded. Everyone knew that Stephanie was one of few who could contact Alpha directly via mind-link.
"Do you want me to ask…"
"No, no.", Zina was quick to interrupt Stephanie. "It's not urgent. We can talk to Talia later."
They didn't want to alert Alpha Damon, and they didn't want Stephanie to suspect something either. After all, this was about her daughter.
Stephanie shrugged. "Suit yourself. But… if you want to contact Talia, you can talk to Rose. Since she is arranging rooms, Alpha Damon got her a cell phone, and she texts Talia…"
