Damon had tasks for Caden, "Put extra cameras around James. I want to know when, where, and with whom he is communicating. Monitor the wi-fi traffic."
"You think that he will talk to Alpha Edward?", Caden asked.
"Maybe he already spoke to him.", Maya said with a frown. They didn't anticipate this mess, so they didn't tighten their security.
"I don't think he did.", Damon shared his thoughts. "James looks like a smart guy. If he wanted his father to know, he would tell him and continue to lay low until Alpha Edward makes his move."
"So, you think he is an ally?", Caden asked thoughtfully. "The kid obviously knows more than he allowed us to see. Will he reveal information about the Red Moon pack and Alpha Edward?"
"I don't know.", Damon admitted. "But I know that I don't like our current position. We should treat as a priority to get Marcy and George on their feet. When that happens, James will lose his leverage. I will leave it to Talia and Doctor Travis to take care of the patients."
If Talia could use her power to bring them into reality, that would be great, but Damon didn't know if Talia could actually do something like that. She healed him, but those were physical injuries, and this is different.
Unfortunately, they couldn't just test it out recklessly because of the risk of exposing Talia's powers to Marcy, George, and anyone who might be nearby. They can't use the mermaid excuse when things start flashing in the forest.
When thinking about the pros and cons, Damon decided that it's better for Talia to stay low. Her safety comes first, and he will deal with anything else to the best of his abilities.
Damon spoke to Maya, "Your role is to keep Nora busy. Get some soldiers to distract her. If she can be around and oblivious, that will be for the best. If we put her in the dungeon and ask James to cover up for it, it will be one more thing he has on us."
Maya looked at Damon with a smirk. "What soldiers? She has eyes only for you."
Damon frowned. "What?"
"Didn't you notice how she was looking at you?"
Damon's frown deepened. "I don't care where and how she is looking. Do your best to keep her busy. If Talia loses her temper…" He shook his head.
Maya remembered how Talia forced Jill to kneel in the restroom of the Shifters nightclub and Maya couldn't decide if that would be a good or a bad way to deal with Nora.
While Maya was thinking about Talia making others bow (and kneel) in submission, Damon was talking to Caden, "Let's reinforce security there so that no accidents happen…"
Damon didn't have a problem faking training reports and allowing James to have some fun, but the idea that James had something on Damon was unsettling. And James had more than just a few things.
Rumors were already spreading how Talia came from the Red Moon pack, and if Alpha Edward suspects that Talia is Damon's mate, he won't spare efforts to get his hands on her.
Tomorrow's party couldn't come fast enough.
The best course of action would be to cut ties with Marcy officially and then to introduce Talia as his mate, but now that Marcy was unconscious and rumors about Talia were spreading, Damon needed to do things out of order, and hope for the best.
Talia entered the kitchen to see Dawn and Zina wiping the countertops.
"Did you wait long?", Talia asked.
"No.", Dawn responded. "We are almost done cleaning up."
Both Dawn and Zina looked at Talia expectantly and Talia knew that they wanted to find out about the big secret.
"Give me a minute to compose myself.", Talia said.
Talia was dazed by the overload of events. Her greatest fear was that Marcy will recognize her and cause trouble, or throw herself at Damon, but the reality was that so many other things happened, and Marcy placed Talia as Damon's mistress, and the most Marcy got to touch Damon was a handshake. Once. The whole day was crazy, and it was still not over.
Talia was eager to finish her evening visit to Marcy and George, and then to sink into Damon's comforting embrace.
"Are you OK?"
Zina's question reminded Talia that her expression was not good.
"Yeah. Help me prepare food for one. We should have plenty of leftovers from dinner, right?"
Talia frowned at the sight of Dawn and Zina elbowing each other. "What?"
"Food for one?", Dawn asked with a sly smile on her face. "Small bites?"
Talia shrugged. She didn't really think about the size of bites, but George was sick so… "Sure. If it's not very messy, that will be great."
"I knew it!", Dawn exclaimed. "Nyotaimori. That's so hot! Where are we doing it? Here? Or should we go to your bedroom? Or do you have another place on your mind?"
Talia was confused. Did Dawn just speak a foreign language? "What?"
Zina explained, "Dawn and I had a bet related to why you asked us to stay here for a secret mission. Dawn said that it will be food-related. It's obvious that she won."
Yes, the secretive thing was food-related, and it included taking food to George.
There was no need to take food for Marcy. Talia confirmed through the security video feed that Marcy was still unconscious.
But seeing Dawn's and Zina's elated expressions, Talia had questions. "What is a Nyo-ta-i-mo-ri?"
Dawn grinned. "It's when you lie down naked, and there is food all over you, and Alpha Damon gets to eat the food, and then he eats you. Traditionally, it's done with sushi, but considering that you are looking at leftovers from dinner, we can improvise…" Dawn paused when she saw Talia's bewildered expression. "Wait. It doesn't seem you are doing that."
"Hehe…", Zina giggled, happy that she didn't lose the bet. "What are we doing?"
"I am amazed at all the ideas you have.", Talia said while shaking her head. "I am intrigued about the human body being used as a serving plate, and I hope to hear more when we have time to chat. But now it's getting late, so we should focus on why we are here. This food is not going to be arranged on me, and it's not for Damon. It's for George…" Talia explained the current situation, and as she talked, the playful atmosphere turned solemn.
Dawn couldn't believe what she heard. "Marcy rejected her fated mate. That's a lot of bad karma right there. The Moon Goddess will punish her harshly. We should stay away from her, so it doesn't rub off on us."
"Why did she reject him?", Zina asked.
Talia shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Aww…", Dawn whined. "I would give anything to have a mate like that."
"Like what?", Zina asked.
"Like Commander George.", Dawn said. "He is just the right combination of handsomeness and muscles. I bet that he can give his mate nights filled with carnal pleasures and endless orgasms. Marcy was blind or stupid to say no to that."
"The man is bedridden, and you are thinking about orgasms.", Zina teased Dawn.
"My orgasms have nothing to do with his condition.", Dawn responded matter-of-factly.
