Talia couldn't believe Marcy's laid-back attitude. "Do you think this is a game?"
Marcy shrugged, indicating that she doesn't care. "I lost everything. A bit of groveling won't make a difference."
"As long as you get what you want, right?"
"Right.", Marcy confirmed. "So, tell me what you want."
"I want you out of here."
"Not without my money."
Talia was shocked by how brazen Marcy was. "YOUR money? Why do you think that you are entitled to any money? You should be happy that we are letting you walk out of here unscathed. If Damon didn't make that deal with you, you would end up in a dungeon." With other women who were shamelessly going after him.
Marcy made a face. "It's easy for you to talk when Damon is backing you up."
Talia's anger surged. How dares Marcy bring up Damon casually without using his title? Did she forget that Talia could easily suppress her?
"It is ALPHA Damon to you!"
Marcy groaned as the air around her became heavy, pressing on her from all sides.
Talia moved around the table to stand in front of it so that there was nothing between her and Marcy. "Do you think I'm relying on Damon?"
Marcy's body was bent downwards, and if she was not sitting on a chair, she would definitely be on her knees.
Marcy lifted her head to see Talia standing with her arms crossed over her chest, with confidence that Marcy wished to erase. But the most shocking were Talia's eyes. They were glowing in a silvery light.
"You are a witch…", Marcy said in a strained voice.
Talia had a feeling that this was more than just an insult. The horror in Marcy's expression was real, like she knew something. Something important.
"What did you say?", it was Damon who asked.
Marcy clutched her chest and laughed like a crazy person. "Now I know why you chose her over me. All that talk about mates and doing the right thing, but you are no better than the others. It's all about power."
"What do you mean?", Talia asked.
Marcy looked at Talia smugly even though her whole body was in pain. "Why would I tell you anything?"
Talia's eyes flashed with irritation. "TELL ME!", Talia's Alpha command echoed in the study and Marcy's head fell down in submission.
"Your eyes are a sign of powers.", Marcy spoke against her will. "Your kind is used for breeding. Children with mixed blood have a chance to be born with a wolf and with the power of witches."
Talia's stomach sank. Breeding? Was that why the portal toward witches was closed? How many other people were involved in that sick scheme? Was that why the Midnight Guardians pack held their location a secret? Was that why she ended up in the Red Moon pack? Did they plan to use her for some twisted breeding in the hope to create powerful offspring? Was that why her parents gave her away?
Talia was nauseated and the whole room was spinning.
Talia turned back to seek Damon, but he was not in the chair anymore. A moment later, Talia felt his arm moving behind her, and his hand landed on her shoulder firmly, pulling her into him, and then she found herself in his firm embrace that anchored her so that her turbulent emotions don't take over.
"What else?", Damon asked Marcy. "Tell us everything!"
"That's all I know.", Marcy responded. "I was a child when my grandfather told me…" Her voice trailed when Damon's frown deepened. She swallowed hard and quickly added, "I thought those were just stories my grandfather made up to entertain me. Witches were wicked and evil, and they attacked our kind so we created artifacts that can suppress witches' powers in order to subdue them, and that's it. He kept notes, journals. Maybe there you can find more."
Damon narrowed his eyes at Marcy. "Where are those notes?"
"I don't know. My father never cared about legacy because he was too focused on creating his own. If they were not destroyed, they are in some box, forgotten."
'I don't trust her.', Talia spoke in Damon's mind.
'She can't lie under Alpha command.', Damon said.
'That doesn't mean she knows the truth. Alpha Edward might be part of that and who knows who else. We need to find those journals.'
Talia's mind was in turmoil. What if she was not the only one? What if there were more children or grownups used for those sick experiments? Is that why the Red Moon pack was taking in orphans in big numbers, to conceal what they were actually doing with people who had powers? And what if some of those orphans were not really orphans but were the results of those breeding experiments?
'We will do it together.', Damon responded and cursed under his breath. They had another problem. 'Marcy knows too much, we can't let her go.' Marcy was vindictive and dangerous, and she would sell them out in a heartbeat if she could get any benefits out of it.
Talia didn't want to be anywhere near Marcy but killing her didn't sound good either.
'The potion!', Liseli sounded in Talia's mind.
'What potion?', Talia asked.
'The one Axel gave you for Cassandra. It causes short-term memory loss.'
Talia's eyes lit up. "Keep an eye on her!", she told Damon and dashed out of the study. She still had that concoction and now it will come in handy.
Talia injected Marcy with a greenish liquid, and told her, "You will go to the shelter in the Blue River pack and stay there until you become self-sufficient, or until your brother becomes the Alpha of the Red Moon pack. You need to hide from your father because you disobeyed him and if he finds out that you came to the Dark Howlers pack to be Damon's Luna with your mate by your side, your father won't show mercy. That is why Damon provided you with a fake identity."
Marcy nodded robotically and she stood up.
"Where are you going?", Talia asked.
"To pack my things. I need to go to the shelter before my father sends his men here to search for me.", Marcy responded and turned to Damon. "Thank you for the new identity."
And with that, Marcy was gone from the study.
"Will that be enough?", Damon asked. Talia told him through their mind-link what the potion will do.
Talia was not sure. "The potion will erase the last few minutes and make the last hour hazy. She probably won't remember all details from the online statement she made. By sending Marcy into a shelter, she won't be under our noses, and Max and Tanya can help us keep an eye on her. We will ask Marcy to get a haircut and maybe a different hair color on the way there."
Damon hugged Talia. "You were kind considering what she did to you in the Red Moon pack."
Talia let out a long breath. "I know that if I punished her without revealing my identity as the girl from the attic, it wouldn't have the desired effect. And if I told her, it would give me temporary relief, but it would expose me. It's not worth it. For a woman like Marcy, taking away the conveniences she had as the princess of the Red Moon pack is as bad as it gets."
Talia looked up at Damon pleadingly. "We need to find out what Marcy's grandfather was doing with witches. I need to know if I was there accidentally or if that was part of some larger plan. I need to know if there are others."
Damon couldn't deny her this, but... "If there are any records, they will be in the packhouse of the Red Moon pack, and right now I don't think Alpha Edward will be welcoming."
"We should ask George and James to help us", Talia said. "Now that Cornelia is James' mate, I don't think he will let this pass. And Dawn will not stay put if she finds out about this."
Damon felt pride swelling in his chest. His kitten already had a plan.
