Damon, Talia, Maya, and Caden were in the study.
Damon sat on a sofa chair with Talia on his lap, and Maya and Caden were on the sofa.
Talia could feel Damon's displeasure. He was inhaling her scent, and that told her he was using her proximity to calm down. She let him hold her.
Talia looked at Maya and Caden whose expressions showed concern, but no one said anything so they sat in silence for some time.
Damon was first to speak.
"I regret not suppressing them and throwing them in the dungeon."
"You did well by holding back.", Caden said. "As much as we don't like them, they are members of our pack with an extensive network of relatives and friends. If you locked them all up, it would ruin the image that you built over a decade."
Maya agreed. "If they are outsiders, no one would care. But Elders are ours and we need to find a way to work around them or we will risk our pack seeing you as a tyrant."
Damon managed to hold reign over the Dark Howlers pack with such a small number of high-ranking members because regular pack members believed in him and followed him willingly. If he became a villain in their eyes, that might change and then they would end up with a much bigger problem than fifty-something grumpy old people.
Talia didn't understand why the atmosphere was so solemn. "Is this about them showing disrespect?"
Maya responded, "Yes and no. Because of their disrespect, they caused this stir and now the dam cracked. We need to find ways to patch it up before it breaks completely."
Talia was utterly confused. What dam and cracks? "Can you speak English?"
Maya bobbed her head before she started talking, "I'm sure you heard their suspicions related to Marcy's absence." When Talia nodded, Maya continued, "We can expect that Alpha Edward already knows what happened here tonight, and by morning he will call to hear Marcy's side of the story. With James' and George's cooperation, we could delay that for some time, however, Marcy's condition is not improving. Travis wants us to get her into the pack hospital and that means how others will find out about her condition. Now that people know you are Alpha Damon's mate…"
"They will assume I harmed Marcy.", Talia ended instead of Maya.
Maya confirmed. "Either you or Alpha Damon. They won't care about facts. Even if George says that Marcy was his mate, and Travis confirms that Marcy is suffering from the consequences of rejecting the mate bond, the ones who are looking for trouble will twist it into a cover-up staged by Alpha Damon. Alpha Edward is itchy to find a way to latch onto us and harming his daughter will give him a perfect excuse to attack and get support from others. Maybe they won't support the Red Moon pack, but they won't help us either."
"And if she dies, our problems will amplify.", Caden said.
Talia lowered her head. "This is my fault.", she said in a small voice.
"No.", Damon said. "This is my fault. If I didn't play games, we wouldn't be here. I was supposed to tell you we are mates from the beginning, and to announce it to everyone. I was stupid to think that I'm protecting you by keeping it a secret… even from you."
He didn't think much about it, but when he saw George and Maddox enjoying with their mates they met only days ago, Damon realized how much he missed by concealing that Talia was his mate. Talia was insecure, bullied, and she nearly died in the hands of rogues, and now Elders looked at her like she was an impostor, and none of that would happen if he only told her the truth.
Talia put her palm on Damon's cheek. "If you didn't keep it a secret, I wouldn't have time to adjust to all the changes. If people looked at me as your mate from the day I arrived here, it would be too much pressure and I would either run away or cave in. You thought about what I needed at that time. Don't blame yourself for it. If I was not broken, you wouldn't do those things."
Damon tilted his head and placed a kiss on the inside of Talia's palm. "You were not broken, kitten. You were exactly what I needed to realize how broken I was."
Talia smiled foolishly at Damon. Why was he comforting her when he was the one who was upset? Isn't he the sweetest man on the planet?
"Can the two of you tone down the flirting?", Maya asked dryly. "Or should we continue this talk in the morning?"
It was a long day and a lot of things happened, and nothing happened as planned. The situation was calm at the moment, but it could explode at any time. They had so many problems that Maya had a headache just thinking about it.
Maya wanted to get a hot bath and snuggle with Caden and unwind and forget about all problems until morning, but Damon summoned them in the study. She was fine with a late-night strategy meeting, but she didn't want to waste her time watching this PDA.
Talia looked at Maya guiltily and summarized, "Marcy is our big problem as her father will cause trouble." But this was not a new thing, Talia thought, and she concluded that there was more to it. "What else we need to tackle?"
"We are not done discussing the first one.", Maya responded. "Any ideas on how to deal with Marcy? Or should we let Travis take her to the pack hospital in the morning and we hope for the best?"
Talia had an idea of how to deal with Marcy.
Damon glanced at Maya and Caden and saw that they had nothing. One look at Talia told him what she was thinking. "No."
"I know you don't want me to take risks, but I would like to try helping Marcy."
"No.", Damon said sternly.
"You know it's reasonable."
"No."
"Damon…"
"No! Why don't you listen?"
"Why are you set on keeping me on the side?", Talia asked.
"Because I want to protect you."
"And I want to help."
Damon shook his head. "Not if it harms you."
"You don't know if it will harm me."
Damon couldn't believe it. Did she forget that when she healed him, she passed out? And after the incident in the lake, she was super-exhausted! What if she crosses her limits and doesn't wake up after the next time? "I'm not willing to risk it."
"It should be my decision to make."
"It's my duty to keep you safe."
Talia and Damon glared at each other, neither willing to back down.
"You can help Marcy?", Maya asked, unable to contain her curiosity, even though her Alpha and Luna were engaged in an intense staring contest.
Damon's eyes flashed in a warning and Talia knew that Damon was telling her not to reveal her abilities. She gave him a comforting smile and responded to Maya.
"There is a mix of herbs I would like to try."
Maya narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "If it's just a mix of herbs, what's the problem?"
"Damon is worried that if Marcy's conditions worsens, people will blame me. He would prefer that I stay away from her.", Talia responded without missing a beat.
