At first, Talia gave Lisa the benefit of the doubt because she was Stephanie's daughter, because she grew up as Damon's sister, and Talia thought how Lisa was heartbroken because Tony found his mate. But now Talia understood that Lisa was just malicious and finding pleasure in someone else's misery.
What kind of a person will pull others down just because she suffered a loss?
It was obvious that Lisa was talking with assumption that Talia was abandoned. A normal reaction would be to show sympathy or to ignore it, but instead, Lisa gloated because someone else was dumped. And then she also said how Damon chose Marcy.
Talia knew that was not true. Was Lisa lying on purpose, or was she misinformed? It didn't matter. Those were lies. LIES! But Lisa's words were full of malevolence and they reminded Talia of numerous times she was bullied, and Talia lost it.
Talia was looking at Damon, but her anger toward Lisa didn't subside.
'SNAP… CRACK…'
The sounds weren't loud, but everyone heard them. Bones cracking.
"ARGH!" Lisa's scream was pitiful as her body twitched on the ground.
Damon could feel Talia's anger swelling, and he had no idea how far it could go, but he needed to stop it before it escalates, and people notice something was off.
Damon knew that Talia was adjusting to her powers and aura, and without the help of her wolf, it could take a while.
If Lisa gets permanently hurt, Talia would be sad (after she cools off), and Damon didn't want Talia to dirty her hands. If anyone needs to be tortured and killed, he would do it.
The only good thing was that other than a few humans present who observed them with curiosity, everyone else bowed in submission, and only Lisa was suffering, otherwise, it would be hard to contain this.
He cupped Talia's cheeks, and spoke softly, "Kitten. Stay with me. Don't let it consume you."
Talia felt Damon's worry and she took a deep breath to stabilize her emotions. His scent of the forest and dark chocolate helped.
Feeling that Talia was back in control, Damon threw an angry glance at Maya, and she didn't need a mind-link to know that she messed up. Lisa caught them all by surprise and it all happened in a matter of a few seconds, but still… Maya was supposed to prevent this.
"I will investigate to see how she got out. This will not happen again.", Maya said.
Of course, Maya was planning to roast Jules and Ron, and Lieutenant Klark also.
The poor warriors didn't know why Lisa ended up in the dungeon. Jules and Ron saw that Lisa was scheming something and they were confident that Lisa won't be able to give them a slip, so they allowed a longer leash in order to see what she was up to. If they knew that Lisa got in trouble due to her nasty mouth, they would gag her, or probably not bring her with them at all.
If it was just Beta Maya, it wouldn't be so bad, but it was obvious that Alpha Damon was furious. Will they be demoted or sent to the survival training? Well, things could be worse than that.
Kalina and Mindy looked at Talia with admiration and confusion. Both of them felt suppression that eased only when Damon showed up. It was definitely coming from Talia, and considering that Damon still didn't mark her, that aura was Talia's alone.
Mindy had her eyes on Talia from the Summer Solstice festival, and she didn't look down on Talia, but Mindy didn't know that Talia was this awesome either. Is this why her brother was interested in Talia and tried to bring her to the Blue River pack?
The most shocked one was Lisa. She sensed that the vicious aura came from Talia's direction, but… isn't Talia a wolf-less she-wolf?
Lisa felt a tickle at the edge of her lips, and she wiped it with the back of her hand. Her eyes widened when she saw blood. Well, that explained the metallic taste in her mouth.
"You are a monster…", Lisa spoke weakly while pushing herself to sit. Every cell of her body was aching, and she was confident that a few ribs and her right leg were broken.
Damon heard Lisa clearly and he knew that those words were directed at Talia.
The problem was that if he could hear Lisa, there was a chance that others heard that also, and he couldn't allow people to think badly of Talia, not before they see how wonderful she is first. He needed to make it look like it was his doing.
Before anyone could react, Damon moved like a flash, and gripped Lisa's neck, lifting her off the ground. Her body swayed limply.
"What did you call me?", Damon squeezed through his teeth. "What did you call your Alpha?"
Lisa's eyes bulged out as she struggled to breathe.
Another wave of murderous aura hit Lisa. Her animalistic instincts told her that her life was in danger, and she was not wrong. Damon would snap her neck like a twig if that meant assuring Talia's safety, regardless of how many humans were watching.
Lisa already made a lot of damage. Damon will never forget that Lisa ate food Talia made for him; it was the first meal Talia prepared for him, and Lisa took it away! And then Lisa said something that made Talia go into the forest and have a nasty encounter with rogues. Damon nearly lost her, damn it! And then Lisa blabbered how Talia was not worthy, and she came from the Red Moon pack… and now this. How much trouble can one bitter woman cause?
When Stephanie heard that Lisa was assigned to cleaning duty in the dungeon, Stephanie said that it was time for Lisa to grow up.
As a mother, Stephanie's instinct was to help Lisa and shelter her, no matter if she was right or wrong but Stephanie realized that her actions enabled Lisa to be unreasonable, so she decided to let Lisa face the world. Lisa was old enough to understand that actions and words have consequences. It was overdue.
"So-sorry…", Lisa stammered, and she plopped on the ground with a wail when Damon released her.
Lisa didn't dare to look up at Damon, so she stayed on the ground. She was never in such a pitiful state before. Lisa was drenched in sweat like she had just come out of the shower and her whole body ached to the point that she couldn't speak. Was it possible that she suffered internal injuries?
Lisa could see that Damon returned to half-kneel by Talia's side and he wrapped her in his arms, like she was the one who got hurt.
Lisa wondered if she got it wrongly. She was confident that the first aura came from Talia, but how can that nobody have such power? It must be Damon's aura. But… Why would Damon be so gentle toward Talia? What about Marcy?
"Alpha! Beta!", Jules and Ron greeted in unison, and Jules said grimly, "We apologize. She was supposed to be…"
"Save it!", Maya cut him off, and continued through mind-link for both Jules and Ron, 'Lock her up and make sure she doesn't come out. Medical assistance won't be provided unless her life is in danger. Lisa insulted our Alpha, and that's a serious crime. I want an official report from Lieutenant Klark on how she managed to get here.'
'Yes, Beta!', Jules and Ron responded in unison before grabbing Lisa below her armpits and taking her away with them.
Maya reluctantly turned toward Damon, ready to get more scoldings and she was surprised to see Damon scooping Talia in his arms.
"Let me take you home…", he said, and Talia leaned on him.
Talia was aware that people were watching, but she didn't care. Not now. She was sick of people pushing other women on Damon and she had no intention of hiding anymore.
Everyone present saw Damon walking out of the town square with a woman in his arms, and that woman was not Marcy or Cassie. It was Talia.
Maya plopped on the chair, happy that this crisis passed somehow.
"Did you know that Talia is an Alpha?", Mindy asked Maya in a whisper.
Maya responded by putting her finger over her lips, indicating it's a secret.
Kalina didn't know the true reason why Talia's background was kept a secret, but she understood that things were not simple.
Kalina remembered a story her grandma used to tell which explained why female Alphas were rare. Over the centuries, power-hungry werewolves would get their hands on female Alphas and they would mark them forcibly with the goal to breed and get Alpha offspring. That is why female Alphas would usually conceal their power until they find their mate who can protect them.
Kalina assumed that this was the case with Talia and once Damon officially makes Talia his Luna, Talia will be able to reveal who she truly is.
