Seeing Talia's grumpy expression, Damon sashayed toward her.
"Is my mate jealous?", he asked in a singing voice.
He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck with his nose. "Are you, kitten?"
Talia regretted that Damon can feel her emotions. But even with that, she had no intention of admitting it. "Hmph! Who will be jealous of you?"
Damon chuckled. "As much as I enjoy that you are so possessive of me, there is no need. When I spoke with Marcy like she was welcome here, it was because my wolf urged me."
'Traitor!', Damon's wolf shouted in Damon's head and Damon ignored him. It's not like he was lying.
"Kitten, you need to believe me. No woman compares to you."
Talia could feel the sincerity behind his words and her fighting spirit diminished. She punched his chest weakly. "If you get close to Marcy again like that, I might break every part of your body that came in contact with her."
Damon swallowed hard. Somehow, he knew that Talia was not issuing empty threats. "It was for the purpose of smelling her. With George and Marcy next to each other, it was the only way to confirm that his scent was coming from her as well."
Talia knew he was right, but… "I didn't like it. Next time, find another way to confirm stuff. Maybe I should start sniffing guys to prove…"
"No, no!", Damon interrupted her. "Message received. Loud and clear."
Talia stifled a laugh. When will he understand that she wants to be his equal in everything? And that means that if she can't sniff men, he definitely can't sniff other women! But this was no time for petty bickering.
While thinking about their situation, Talia thought of something. "If Commander George is upset at the idea of Marcy being with you, will she be jealous if he is with another woman?"
Damon shrugged. "We won't know until we try."
Damon's face lit up as an idea popped into his mind. "We don't necessarily need Marcy to slip so that we can send her packing. If Commander George loses his cool, we can shift the blame on Marcy and wrap it up as disrespect. And if we confirm that George and Marcy are doing something fishy, that will be the nail in the coffin."
Damon looked at Talia expectantly. "Kitten, are you with me in this?"
Talia smiled at the silly Alpha. "I am with you in anything."
She buried her face in his chest and took a deep breath. Forest and dark chocolate. Her favorites.
"Damon?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think that Marcy and George could smell what we did before they came here?"
Damon chuckled lowly. "Absolutely. It was fresh, so they definitely picked it up. I saw Marcy's nose scrunching more than once."
She thought of something else. "Was George's scent on Marcy fresh?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, they came here two hours ago, and before that, they spent a few hours in the car. If his scent was fresh, doesn't that mean they did it here?"
Damon thought how that makes sense. "Let's check the security footage."
"We have cameras in the rooms?"
"No. Not in rooms.", Damon responded. "But hallways and common areas are covered, as well as the perimeter around the packhouse. We can see where they went and if they were on their own…"
A bit later, in the garden…
Talia smiled while approaching her girlfriends. It was good to see Mindy, Maya, and Kalina.
Before leaving the study, Damon and Talia looked at the video surveillance and saw that George and Marcy were in Marcy's room for some time. It was definitely an opportunity for them to get frisky.
They also confirmed that their four new guests were in their rooms, and that's why Talia decided to have a quick chat with Mindy, Maya, and Kalina, before going to Marcy to discuss the so-called schedule where she can participate.
Talia plopped on the chair and let out a long breath.
"That bad. Eh?", Kalina asked. They knew that Talia was away to welcome the group from the Red Moon pack.
"Here is the thing…", Talia quickly shared how she and Damon suspect that something is going on between Marcy and George.
"Are you expecting us to be friendly with Marcy?", Maya asked with a frown.
Talia shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess you can do whatever you want, as for me, I will be Damon's assistant. We should pretend to have girly time with Marcy and see if we can push George's buttons. Ideally, he will make a scene and we will blame Marcy for it, and Damon can use that to kick them out."
"If we need a scene, let's go to Darkbourne.", Kalina suggested. "Witnesses could be helpful."
Maya agreed. "Let's have lunch out. Just us, girls. Since George is acting as Marcy's bodyguard and we are going out, he will tag along, and we can talk about things like hooking up with guys and stuff."
Kalina thought of something. "Isn't that Nora here also? Considering what I've seen in my pack, she has a short fuse and a few loose screws in her head."
Mindy leaned over the table and spoke in a whisper, "The rumor is that Nora will sleep with anyone, as long as he is a high-ranking member. Watch your mates, ladies."
Maya frowned like she tasted something sour. "I heard about her. If we need someone from the Red Moon pack to cause a scandal, Nora would be my first pick."
Mindy thought of something. "Maya, can you ask a few good-looking warriors to be around? Maybe we can use them."
"You wanted to say how YOU can use them…", Kalina said through giggles.
Mindy shrugged. "There is nothing wrong with mixing work and pleasure. You have your mates, but I don't." She turned to Maya. "Emphasis on good looking."
Maya stifled a laugh, but she knew that Mindy's suggestion had a point. The warriors could be used to keep Nora busy, and also to provoke George.
Talia was surprised to see that her girlfriends came up with plans on the spot. She was really glad to have them on her side.
While Maya, Mindy, and Kalina chatted, Talia's eyes fell on the scattered papers on the table among the plates with snacks and cups with tea.
"What is that?", Talia asked.
Maya responded. "We are planning a party for you."
"For me?"
"It seems Damon didn't tell you.", Maya said. "Damon wants you to meet with the Elders as soon as possible."
Talia knew that a party was coming eventually. She had one question. "When is the party?"
"Tomorrow evening.", Maya responded.
Talia thought that she heard it wrongly. Tomorrow? She was not ready!
Axel just left, Marcy was here, and a party was coming?
Talia was not sure how much stress she can handle before falling apart.
Seeing that Talia's expression was not good, Mindy put her hand over Talia's and gave her a squeeze. "Don't worry Lia. We are here to help you out."
"I know. Thank you…", Talia responded weakly.
She took a mental note to ask Damon why were they pushing a party among all this mess? Don't they have enough going on?
