"Is there really nothing we can do?", Talia asked Travis.
Travis thought for a moment before responding. "Maybe you can."
Talia was surprised by this, and Damon was alerted.
"What do you mean?", Damon asked icily. Did Travis know about Talia's powers? Damon was ready to remove a witness. He would do anything to keep Talia safe.
Travis was not sure why Damon was suddenly hostile. "Herbs can help to calm their minds, and Talia knows about them.", Travis said with haste.
It took a moment for Damon to relax, and then Travis continued, "Herbs can help, but the bottom line is that they need to have a will to pull out of it. As a soldier, Commander George steeled his mind through training, but Miss Marcy is a different story. They need peace and a quiet and supportive environment, and we can only hope for the best."
"We should move them away from here.", Maya said from the side. "If James or Nora find out what happened, they might cause us trouble. If they alert Alpha Edward, I'm not sure how much he will listen to our version of the story. Even with the video evidence, he might say that we staged it."
Damon agreed with this. The video might prove that Damon didn't have anything to do with the state Marcy found herself in, but with Marcy screaming how Talia bullied her, Talia was part of it and Damon didn't want Talia to be implicated in any way. In addition to that, the video revealed George's true identity. If Alpha Edward found out about it, George wouldn't have a good ending.
Damon was not sure what kind of a person George was, but he had a hunch that George was in the Red Moon pack with an ulterior motive.
Enemy of an enemy is a friend or at least a temporary ally, and Damon hoped that George could help him get Alpha Edward off his back. After all, if George doesn't cooperate, Damon could reveal George's true identity, so Damon had an upper hand in this.
And there was also an option to push the blame of Damon rejecting Marcy on George.
No matter how Damon looked at this, George could be useful, but for that, he needed to snap out of it.
Talia also agreed with moving them, but she had another concern. "This can last for a long time. We can't tell them that Marcy and George went shopping. Tomorrow we have a party and James will definitely ask questions when his sister doesn't show up."
"Let's worry about James later.", Maya said. "First thing is to get these two out of here. We can repurpose one of the smaller homes that are nearby. For now, let's tell them that Marcy went to inspect the territory and George accompanied her. That could work for some time, and when Alpha Damon is away, we will say that he went to meet with them. Until then, we will get a better idea of their condition."
Damon thought that will work. "James is busy with training, and Caden will figure out something to keep the youngster busy when they are not on the training ground. Maya, you ensure that Nora is occupied."
Maya groaned. She really didn't want to deal with Nora. Her face lit up when she remembered the soldiers who were at the neighboring table in the restaurant. She will give them a task to keep Nora busy. Brilliant!
"OK. I will ask Mindy to join me in taking Nora shopping after lunch. If Nora asks about Marcy, we will tell her that she will spend time with Alpha Damon.", Maya said. "James will be in training, and you can use that window to take these two into the house. It will be ready by then…"
Travis didn't care about those little schemes. Dealing with other packs is part of politics that he never wanted to get involved with.
Travis agreed to keep this a secret until they figure out Marcy's and George's condition. He said that he will personally come to tend to them at least twice a day, and he entrusted Talia with doing the herbal treatment.
"I know you can do it…", Travis said to Talia while discussing herbs that can be used to calm one's mind. "I would recommend tea, but since Marcy is unconscious, you should dry the herbs and keep them in the room with the patients."
With Travis gone, Maya, Damon, and Talia agreed to keep George's true identity a secret, and they divided work.
In order to minimize the number of people who will be aware of the current situation, Damon went to deal with arranging the house, and Maya's task was to inform Kalina and Mindy about what happened. She will need those two ladies to distract Nora.
Talia lingered in the packhouse while watching the hallway through the security feed, to ensure no one comes to Marcy's and George's room.
She knew that other than Nora and James, no one would dare to come into those two rooms. James was in training, so if she just entertained Nora, any danger of Nora finding out the truth would be gone, but Talia really didn't want to mingle with Nora.
Talia remembered Nora shamelessly trying to get into Damon's room at the Lightclaw pack, and now that Marcy was out of the picture, Talia had a feeling that Nora will be another challenge she needed to deal with.
The moving operation worked better than expected.
Mindy and Maya took Nora shopping in the human town.
Kalina joined training with the story of how the future Luna needs to be physically fit, and Nora thought how she should join some training sessions also. That would give her access to high-ranking guys, and Alpha Damon might attend also!
With everyone out of the way, Travis came to help Damon and Talia to move Marcy and George to a house that's isolated and nestled among trees, about five minutes away from the packhouse.
It's a two stories-high home with a kitchen, living area, and a dining room on the lower floor, and three bedrooms upstairs.
They placed Marcy on the bed in one room, and Travis hooked her up to an IV.
George walked, but it was sluggish and only when someone tugged him in a specific direction. It looked like his mind shut down and he would move as directed without any objections.
"I will come twice a day to check on them and to administer the IV.", Travis said. "It would be good if someone is nearby in case their condition changes." He would arrange for some nurses to always be around, but Damon told him that this needs to be held as a top-secret, so nurses were not an option.
"I will get warriors to keep guard. They won't come inside, but they can alert us if they hear something.", Damon said. He already thought of installing a few cameras so that they can keep an eye on Marcy and George.
