Damon released Talia's wrists and his hand glided along her arm, on the side of her body, stopping to hold onto her waist that was exposed between two leather garments.
"Get off her!", Keith shouted while dashing toward them from the nearby bushes.
"Keith, no!", Talia exclaimed, but it was too late, as he was already on his knees and struggling to get up under Damon's aura that held him down effortlessly.
"Well, well…", Damon drawled. "Who do we have here? Why does the Coach think that he can interfere when his Alpha is about to claim a woman? And there is more than one idiot."
Damon's eyes didn't move from Keith, but Talia could see that Liam, Pierce, Caleb, and Sandy were also down on their knees, forming a strange circle about ten steps away from Talia and Damon.
Lulu was more in the back, hiding behind a tree and Talia was grateful that at least one of them knew that it was suicidal to go against Damon.
"Damon…", Talia called.
"Shut up!", Damon hissed at Talia.
"Don't talk to her like that!", Maya exclaimed from the back.
Dawn and George were approaching them, but Talia stopped them with, "Don't! If you come closer, you will only make it worse." They needed to handle this peacefully, or everything might fall apart.
Damon narrowed his eyes at Talia. "These are my people rebelling. Did you put them up to this?"
"They are our friends.", Talia responded. "My guards. You are the one who assigned them to protect me. They are only doing their job."
"Protect you? Against their Alpha?"
"My Alpha would never force himself on a woman.", Keith struggled to speak. "My Alpha wouldn't treat his mate like this. Let her go."
Damon smirked. "Why don't you make me?"
Keith groaned as Damon's aura threatened to crush him.
"Damon…", Talia called in a trembling voice. "Don't do this. This is not you. Even if you don't remember me, you should know yourself. Don't you feel me running through your veins? You asked me not to leave you. You said that you will never let go. You said that if we are ever apart, you will turn heaven and earth to find me. You said that even if you lose your power, your money, and your pack, I will still have you because we are one. You are my home, and I am yours. That's not something you can forget."
Damon was not smiling anymore, and he was not sure if he was breathing.
Mental images flashed in front of his eyes. It was Talia in a red swimsuit, and Damon rushing to cover her up. He didn't want others to see the shape of her body, and he could feel the possessiveness of wanting to keep this female only to himself.
The words echoed in his head, 'Mine to touch, mine to kiss, mine to hold, mine to love…'
Damon cursed under his breath. Was that really him?
Damon buried his face in the crook of Talia's neck, and he took a deep breath.
"You smell good.", he murmured. Her scent was citrusy sweet, not overwhelming, but it was more than enough to make him dizzy and crave for more.
"This…" His hand moved lower, reaching under the length of her skirt and he gave her thigh a squeeze. "It feels right." Why did it feel so good to be close to Talia? He didn't want to separate from her, like being skin-to-skin was the only way to go.
Talia released a shaky breath. His touch felt good and repulsive at the same time.
She responded in a whisper while choking on her tears, "That's because we are mates, Damon. I have your mark on my neck and you are wearing mine. The dark magic is blocking our bond and your wolf. I need you to let me do the ritual to remove the black runes, so you get Sapa back and your memories of us."
Damon's grip on Talia's thigh tightened and she winced.
"You expect me to believe that?", Damon asked angrily.
Talia looked into his icy-blue eyes which were full of questions.
"You don't need to believe me but believe your wolf. Ask him. He is not saying anything, is he?"
Damon frowned at these words. How did Talia know that his wolf can talk? He never told anyone. And how did she know that the old guy was unreachable?
"Don't you feel that your wolf is sealed? I know it's not in your nature to trust others, but this time…", she licked her lips nervously. "I need you to trust me."
Damon looked into her honeyed eyes that pleaded with him to believe her, and for some unknown reason… he did.
Talia was not sure what to expect when he released her thigh. His emotions were unreachable, and she was nervous. The only good thing was that Keith, Liam, Pierce, Caleb, and Sandy were breathing normally now, which meant that Damon stopped pressuring them with his aura. She hoped that they were not hurt too much, but she didn't have the capacity to check on them as Damon was unstable.
"What do you want me to do?", Damon asked.
Talia's heart leaped in her chest. "We need to go there." She gestured with her chin to her left. Damon moved from her, and they got on their feet at the same time. Talia took his hand into hers and their fingers interlaced.
"This…", Damon said while staring at their connected hands. "This feels right as well."
Talia smiled a little. "It always did." She wanted to celebrate this small victory, but she also felt that it was too early.
Talia led Damon to the diagram she made previously and both of them stood in the middle to face each other.
"Don't let go, Damon.", she said while tightening her hold on his fingers.
Something flashed in his eyes, like recognition of some kind. "Never.", he responded.
Talia looked up to see the full moon and she silently prayed that this will work. It had to work.
She took a deep breath and started saying ancient chants, when Cornelia interrupted her with, "You can't cast a spell if you are in the circle."
"Can you do it?", Talia asked Cornelia. She didn't know about this limitation, but she really didn't want to let go of Damon. There was a familiar part of him awakening and she feared that if she lets go, that part will be gone.
Cornelia didn't approve. "We don't know what effect it will have on you."
"I will be fine.", Talia responded.
"What you are doing is reckless.", Cornelia said sternly.
"I am doing what feels right, Cornelia.", Talia responded without breaking eye contact with Damon. "Without him, nothing matters." She didn't care about being Alpha or Luna of the Dark Howlers pack, and if anything happened to her, Axel would take care of the Midnight Guardians pack. In a way, everyone had someone, and Talia had only Damon and nothing mattered without him.
