Talia was not sure what to think about Damon's wolf not coming out.
She wanted to ask Damon if he was joking, but she kept that to herself because this was not the time for jokes and Damon wouldn't do that. "Is he hurt?"
Damon shook his head. "He was fine when we were hunting dinner. I did that in my wolf form."
Well, if he was not hurt, then… "Did he change his mind about meeting me?"
Damon rejected that possibility immediately. "That shouldn't be the case. He was excited to meet you and now… nothing."
"Does this happen often?"
"It happens after I get hurt and he heals me, or if he wants to be left alone.", Damon said helplessly. "But I am not hurt and…" Damon was getting worried. Will this impact the mating?
Talia put her hand on Damon's and gave him a squeeze. "It's OK. Just relax." She could feel that he was tense. Was it a bad idea to ask to meet his wolf?
But then… Damon said that his wolf was eager to meet with her, and she believed him.
It was obvious that Damon was troubled by this, and Talia wanted to help him somehow.
Talia scrambled her brain for a solution. If Damon's wolf choose not to meet with her, it would be fine, but it seemed that was not the case.
Why would his wolf not respond?
Talia remembered what Gideon said, how wolves can be unreachable when they choose, when they deplete their energy and need to rest, and… he also mentioned that the strong ones can impact the weaker ones.
Damon told her that he can use his Alpha aura to make others submit and tell the truth without touching them, but she didn't think much about it, until now.
Talia's mind was working a million thoughts a second as fragments of conversations with Gideon and Damon and many others came together, and questions started sprouting.
What if…?
Was it possible…?
Talia could see only one explanation.
"I know you are listening.", Talia said, and Damon looked at her in confusion.
He whipped his head around, searching for an intruder, but his senses didn't pick up anything in the wide area other than forest critters.
Damon opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but she continued talking.
"Come on, I know you are there. Why are you not responding? Are you suppressing Damon's wolf? Why would you do that? Are you afraid that he will tell me something you don't want me to know?"
Talia gasped when intense fury bubbled in the pit of her stomach.
'WHO IS AFRAID!?', a voice boomed in her head.
Part of Talia was delighted to hear her wolf, and part of her was scared because she hit a nerve by provoking her (not on purpose). Talia was also confused, why would her wolf conceal her presence?
"It is you, isn't it?", Talia asked.
'You don't need to use words. I can hear your thoughts.', her wolf snorted.
"Kitten?", Damon called anxiously. He guessed that it was her wolf, and he was not sure if that was a good thing or a catastrophe emerging. Did her wolf come up with another crazy condition before he can mark Talia? Actually, even the first one (chasing away Marcy without revealing that Talia was his mate) was not completed successfully. Damn it!
He held Talia's hand and gave her a squeeze, but he didn't want to interrupt whatever conversation was going on in Talia's head, knowing that his kitten was getting answers and that she will fight for them no matter what her grumpy wolf comes up with.
Talia was not sure what to ask first.
'Since when are you sitting there and watching? Why would you hide your presence from me?'
Talia spent many lonely days in the Red Moon pack yearning to hear her wolf again. Since Talia got hope that her wolf might come back, she was eager for that to happen, eating, training, carefully listening, and she never imagined that her wolf would come back and pretend that it was not there. Was her wolf gone at all? How much did she see?
The more Talia thought about this, the more she felt betrayed, spied on, and uneasiness swelled within her.
'Don't' go there', her wolf grumbled. 'Whenever you were getting close to that lecherous boy, I stopped watching. I'm not a pervert.'
'But you are awake for a while. Right?'
'It was on and off.', her wolf admitted.
'You saved us when the rogues attacked.'
Her wolf snorted. 'If not for me, both you and that boy wouldn't be breathing.'
Talia's mood improved. 'You healed Damon in the hospital.' If her wolf healed Damon, that means she didn't really dislike him.
'Oh, I didn't. That was you.'
A gentle squeeze on Talia's hand reminded her that Damon was right there, and she decided to focus on the pressing topic.
'Why are you suppressing his wolf?'
'What makes you think…?'
'Stop pretending.', Talia interrupted another question that wouldn't give her an answer. 'No games. Just tell me.'
'Why would I tell you anything? So that you can find a way around it? Does he deserve to have his wolf?'
Talia cursed silently. Why were her thoughts exposed while her wolf kept everything to herself?
'You need to learn to conceal your thoughts, Talia.', her wolf said patronizingly. 'If I'm not shutting down your mind-link forcibly, many people would get unobstructed access to your thoughts, and you wouldn't want that, right?'
Talia was shocked. She had a mind-link? Damon said that when her wolf awakens he can help her identify her mind-link if she had one, but now it seemed that her wolf prevented many things from happening.
And why would her wolf meddle with Damon's wolf? Unless…
'This is not about Damon. This is about his wolf.' When her wolf didn't answer, Talia continued pressing, 'Why don't you tell me what's the problem? I'm sure we can clarify it and you will see that it's a misunderstanding.'
Talia's wolf snorted. 'Misunderstanding?'
'Yes. Damon's wolf is supportive, and he saved me many times. You know he can talk, right? He wants to meet me. Why are you preventing that from happening? Don't you want to talk to him?'
'There is nothing to be said between us.'
A wave of emotions washed over Talia. Grief. Yearning. Anger.
Talia's mouth fell slack open. 'You know him!' And not just know him but know-know him. 'How do you know him?'
'It's none of your business!'
'But it is my business.', Talia argued back. 'You are my wolf. We share a body. Damon is my mate. If you have a problem with his wolf, I need to know about it. Or are you going to prevent me from completing mating with Damon because you have a grudge with his wolf?'
