Talia and Zina walked out of the room to be greeted by Keith, Liam, Pierce, Caleb, Sandy, and Lulu who bowed respectfully.
All six of them wore ceremonial clothes and had patterns drawn on their skin with black paint, similar to what Talia saw on Damon. They also had impressive necklaces made out of teeth.
Talia noticed that Keith had the most drawings on his body among her guards.
"What do those patterns represent?", Talia asked Keith, genuinely curious.
Keith puffed his chest proudly. "These are for challenges I won against worthy opponents." And also, fights against rogues and for lives taken, but he didn't want to sully Talia's ears with harsh words.
Keith enjoyed the way Talia looked at the drawings that adorned his body, and he appreciated the fact that Talia didn't see him as a pampered trainer, but as a capable warrior he was.
He knew that Talia was mated to Damon and that harboring those feelings inside his heart was futile, but there was nothing he could do about it other than to protect Talia with everything he's got and to step away when Damon was nearby because seeing Talia happy with another man was too painful to bear.
Keith wondered if this was the Moon Goddess' plan all along, to turn him into a faithful dog who will follow his master with the hope to get praise.
Unaware of Keith's thoughts, Talia commented on the drawings on his body. "You won many fights." She turned to look at the rest of her guards. "You all did. I am lucky to have you keeping me safe."
Talia noticed that her guards were looking at Zina curiously, so she explained, "Zina will be coming with us. I need to do something during the ceremony and her assistance will be necessary."
They were all surprised that Talia will be absent from the ceremony.
"Where are we going?", Keith asked.
"I'm not sure.", Talia admitted. "It's related to the full moon and Shaman said that it will show me the way."
It was not Gideon, but it was Evanora, but Talia didn't want to go into details.
Zina's role was to accompany Talia and to communicate with Maya and Caden via mind-link so that the Beta duo knows what's the status on Talia's side, and for Talia to know what was going on at the ceremony.
Keith and the other five guards didn't know about Damon's condition. Damon didn't want more than necessary people to know about him being impacted by the dark magic, and Talia agreed. If the news spread that Damon was attacked by the Oracle from the Midnight Guardians pack, all kinds of trouble might ensue, and they wanted to avoid animosity among the two packs because of a few malicious individuals.
The party of eight exited the packhouse to be met by a river of people who were moving toward them, parting in the middle to pass on the left and right sides of the packhouse. Those were members of the Dark Howlers pack, all of them in traditional clothes and good spirits, some carrying flowers to leave as offerings at the ceremonial altar that was set up behind the garden, and Talia really regretted that she will miss this event.
"Next time, we will join them.", Zina said to Talia.
Talia turned to look at her friend. "Am I that obvious?"
Zina shook her head. "We are all feeling the same, but you are easy to read. Let's accomplish this task so that we are not missing the event of the decade for naught."
"Thank you, Zina.", Talia said. "It means a lot to have you here with me." It really did. She knew that Keith and the other five were there because Damon ordered them, but Zina was there as a friend.
Talia remembered Damon's words about how only people close to her can backstab her, and she looked at the seven people around her. Six of them were her guards, but Talia considered all of them her friends, and she couldn't imagine that any of them would betray her.
She was their Alpha, and their betrayal wouldn't be petty things like stealing the best-looking dessert, but serious matters that could impact her safety, and Damon's, and the safety of the whole pack, and Talia's heart cracked at the thought that any of them would be willing to go that far. She knew that Damon's concerns were not made up, but she hoped that he was wrong, at least about these people.
With a deep breath to steel her resolve, Talia walked forward with Zina, and six guards circled them. They blended with the other people perfectly, except for the fact that they were moving in the opposite direction.
Talia turned to the left, emerging from the river the crowd created. Once the clamor died behind them, Talia closed her eyes and chanted the words that Evanora taught her to improve her sensitivity to nature and help her see the path that will lead her to the optimal location for the ritual. A few seconds later, Talia allowed her instincts to guide her, and she moved slowly at first, but her every next step came with more confidence that she knew where she was going.
Back in the packhouse, Damon was standing at the window of the living room with his hands clasped behind his back and looking out to see the crowd gathering to fill up the clearing beyond the garden and overfilling in every direction. Those were his people, excited and happy, and he really wished that Talia was by his side so that they can enjoy this scene together, but he feared that if they meet now, it would be nearly impossible to separate. He had a task to do, and so did Talia, and soon they will reunite. Soon.
Cornelia peered into the living room to see James who was wearing skimpy ceremonial clothes that were held by one string around his waist, allowing the leather garment to reach half of his thighs. She never saw him exposed like that, up close, and she was not sure if he was really the most handsome man she had ever seen, or if that was the soulmate bond messing with her eyesight and with her reasoning.
James turned to look at Cornelia and she clearly saw his eyes widening as he took in her form.
Before Cornelia could react, James was in front of her, holding her hand and pulling her into the living room.
"You are stunning", James said breathily. She really was.
James wanted to scoop Cornelia in his arms and take her to a place with privacy and stay there forever, but their forever was uncertain and for the first time in his life James really wished that he had the Alpha aura strong enough to protect Cornelia from everything bad in the world, or maybe that he was born as a no one important so that his father won't care about him.
