~ The Midnight Guardians pack ~
Axel groaned when his phone woke him up and it took him a moment to realize from where the noise was coming.
He sprang into a seated position when he realized that something important was happening.
If anyone from the Midnight Guardians pack wanted to contact him, they would use mind-link. And if it was an outsider, only a handful of them had his number.
Axel scrambled to get his phone and his eyes flashed when he saw the name flashing, "Talia".
He reached into the drawer of his bedside table to grab a handful of purple crystals and scattered them around him. The time in the territory of the Midnight Guardians pack flowed differently compared to the outside world, and these crystals created a temporary dimension-tunnel for the cell phone signals to travel.
Axel took a deep breath to compose himself before answering, "Hello?"
"Hi… Axel…", Talia's voice came out choppy. "I need your help. I…", she hesitated.
"Tell me.", he urged her.
"It's Damon."
Axel frowned, and his eyebrows shot up when Talia continued, "He has similar symptoms like Meg when you took her from…"
"He what?", Axel interrupted her.
"He is unconscious and glowing. You know what I mean."
"No, I don't. Why would he…"
It was Talia's turn to interrupt Axel. "Because I marked him."
Axel stared at his phone and then rubbed his eyes as if to confirm that he heard what he heard.
Sure, he knew Talia had powers that would link her to the Midnight Guardians pack, but how on Earth did she mark Damon? Damon was the most powerful Alpha of their generation, and if she marked him, doesn't that mean he submitted to her? Delicate Talia made Damon submit? He saw her swimming very fast, but he never imagined that she would be stronger than Damon. This was difficult to process.
But if it was true, it confirmed Talia had Alpha blood, and there was only one Alpha family in the Midnight Guardians pack. Sure, there was always a chance that Alpha from another pack mated with someone from the Midnight Guardians pack, but still… he pushed those thoughts for later.
"Are you sure?", Axel asked, wondering if this was some strange joke.
Talia exhaled in frustration. She didn't think that he will doubt her. "Why would I lie, Axel? Last night, we came to this cabin, and we had dinner and then…" She really didn't want to talk more, but it was obvious that Axel needed more details. "One thing lead to another, and he said that we should give in to our instincts, and I marked him. I woke up this morning to see him unresponsive and glowing. Can you help us? Please? He is burning up and groaning. I think he is in pain and… Tell me what to do."
Axel pursed his lips while thinking. Of course, he could help her. But the question was if he will be allowed to. "Don't try to wake him up forcibly. There are things…" He paused. "Give me a bit to figure out something. I will call you back."
Axel ended the call without waiting for Talia to respond.
His brain scrambled for options on how to deal with this situation.
He asked Cassandra to come and verify if Talia was the child from the prophecy, and Cassandra was considering it, but his parents objected, saying how they can't risk Cassandra leaving and getting in danger. She knew too much and was too precious for the whole pack.
His parents were adamant about Axel staying away from Talia, saying how they need to focus on their pack, and not on outsiders, but… now that Damon is awakening his powers, he is not really an outsider.
Axel didn't tell his parents that Talia and Damon are fated mates, but if he tells them about the situation, they were bound to find out.
He scooted out of the bed and decided to deal with this head-on. After all, his options were to ignore Talia's request for help or to involve his parents. No one gets in or out of their territory without approval from Alpha Isaac and Alpha Sophia.
Talia was sitting by Damon's side, holding his hand, and stroking his hair.
She dressed up and struggled to pull a pair of shorts on Damon before covering him with a blanket.
His temperature was going up and down in waves, and he would groan occasionally, but he didn't open his eyes, and that scared her.
Axel called to tell her he was coming, and to keep her phone powered on, saying that they will find her based on the GPS coordinates, but he didn't say who was coming or when. They took hours to reach here from the packhouse, what if Axel can't reach today?
A helpless sob escaped her lips, and she leaned her forehead on Damon's chest.
"I'm sorry, Damon. I screwed up again. If I knew, I wouldn't give in to my urge… I wouldn't… Please, come back to me…", she spoke in whispers and hoped that he will hear her and wake up.
"Talia?", Axel's voice came from the side, and she whipped her head that way to see Axel and another man coming out of the bushes. The road was another way. How did they get there so quickly?
The unknown man was an older version of Axel, and he looked at her like he hoped to see what was under her flesh.
"Axel…", Talia said while turning to face them without standing up. She didn't want to increase the distance between her and Damon. "I assume that's Alpha Isaac."
The older man nodded stiffly, and his eyes moved to look at Damon.
"Thank you for coming.", Talia said. "Damon is like this for at least two hours, probably longer. Can you help him?"
"We will need to take him with us.", Alpha Isaac said with finality.
Talia pressed her lips into a line. She was hoping that they will give him medicine, or maybe perform a ritual, and Damon will be fine. But now it seemed it was not that simple.
"Can you tell me what's going on and how you will help?", Talia asked.
Axel stepped forward and observed Damon. "We can't be sure until we examine him thoroughly, but it seems that his powers are awakening. We have ways to make this process smoother, but we can't do it here."
"Is that why you took Meg with you?"
Axel confirmed. "She is doing well and looks forward to seeing you."
Talia was alerted. She had no intention of leaving Damon's side, but what if this was a plot to get her into the Midnight Guardians pack?
A sense of crisis descended on her. Those were two Alphas. If they want to take her away forcibly or harm Damon, how can she fight back?
Can she trust them?
What were her options?
Talia looked into Axel's golden-honeyed eyes and wondered if she made a mistake by calling him.
'He looks sincere', Talia's wolf spoke in her head.
'Are you sure?'
'Nothing is certain, but he has no ill intentions toward you.'
'What about toward Damon?'
'I don't know.', Liseli admitted. 'But if he doesn't want to hurt you, he won't harm Damon either.'
Under those brave words, Talia could clearly feel Liseli's uncertainty.
