"Kitten…", Damon called in a low voice while touching Talia's cheek gently, as if he was afraid that he will break her. "Can you hear me? Say something."
Talia blinked to see Damon's concerned expression as he examined her face, and her lips lifted in a crooked smile when she recognized the flood of emotions. Her Damon was back. But her happiness lasted only for a second because she remembered how they found themselves there.
Damon forgot about Talia and didn't feel the bond, and she ended up sparring with him, and Damon manhandled her like she was a cheap woman willing to sleep with him for everyone to see, and then he hurt her guards.
The mental image of Keith struggling on the ground while telling Damon to get off Talia was painfully etched into her memory. Keith knew that he didn't stand a chance, yet he still struggled in an attempt to keep her safe.
Talia was not sure if the pinch in the back of her throat was because of Keith's readiness to sacrifice himself for her, or because Damon was the one who caused Keith to go to such an extreme.
Talia pushed Damon away and she looked around to see that Liam, Sandy, Pierce, and Caleb were getting up to stand. Dawn, George, James, and Cornelia seemed to be OK, and Maya was helping Zina to stand up.
Talia sucked in a sharp breath when she saw that Keith was still on the ground. The poor coach got the biggest hit from Damon's aura.
Talia swiftly moved to kneel next to Keith, leaving Damon to stand awkwardly with his arms half-outstretched where Talia used to be.
"Hey…", Talia called Keith. "How are you feeling?"
Keith smiled a little when her hand touched his cheek.
"I'm glad you are OK.", he said, and he grimaced when he moved.
Talia was quick to put her hands on him.
"Shh…", she urged him not to move. "Relax and let me in."
Talia's hands lit up in a silvery light that spread to envelop Keith, and a series of crunching sounds were heard, as if someone was cracking knuckles, but the sounds were coming from Keith's back.
Keith felt warmth spreading through his body, from the points where Talia's palms rested on his skin. The sensation was comforting and numbing, and somehow, he knew that she was mending his bones and muscles. As a werewolf, he would heal, but she reduced a few days (or maybe weeks) into a minute, and Keith admired her even more. He always knew that Talia was special, but at that moment, Talia looked like a fairy.
"How is that?", Talia asked.
"Thank you.", Keith responded breathily. He wanted to get up, but Talia was quick to press on his shoulder.
"Don't move.", she said to Keith and glanced at Maya. "Call Doctor Travis and tell him to bring a stretcher. Keith needs a full checkup." She turned back to Keith. "Only when Doctor Travis says you are fine, you can resume your duty as my guard. Is that clear?"
Keith nodded obediently.
Damon was observing the scene from the side and jealousy was eating him alive. Why was Talia so warm toward the measly coach? Can't she see that he was smitten with her? Was she encouraging him?
"Does he deserve your care?", Damon squeezed through his teeth.
Talia whipped her head that way, just in time to see George's fist connecting with Damon's jaw.
'POW!'
Damon stumbled backward. "What the fuck is wrong with you!?", Damon raged at George.
"That's for treating your mate like shit.", George said grimly. George could feel Dawn's anger and dejection, and he had to let out some steam, for both of them.
More than being angry at George for hitting him, Damon turned to look at Talia, desperate to get her forgiveness. He needed to hear her say it was OK, and that she was not upset about what happened.
"I'm sorry for pinning you down like that.", Damon said. "You know I wouldn't go through with it if you were not willing. I would never force you."
This was not just about Talia, but about any woman. Damon did many things he was not proud of, but he never did anything against a woman's will. A no was a no, no matter how angry, drunk, or horny he was.
When Talia didn't respond, Damon asked, "Are you affected by the dark magic? Is that impacting your behavior?"
"There is no dark influence in her energies.", Cornelia said.
Damon frowned at the witch. "Why is she not by my side then?"
Cornelia cocked an eyebrow at him. "Do you really need me to answer that?"
"You went too far." It was Maya who said this and Zina's stubborn expression showed that she agreed.
Damon gritted his teeth. "I was confused, and I didn't remember Talia. I was confident that she just wanted to seduce me, that she turned you against me and…" He was not sure how to finish this.
"If your goal was to humiliate her, congratulations on a job well done." This came from James. "You were a prime example of why women with self-respect stay away from Alphas."
Damon groaned in frustration and turned to Talia. "You know that was not me."
Talia gave Keith a comforting tap on his hand, and then she stood up to face Damon.
'No, Damon. That was you.', she responded through their private mind-link.
Damon's stomach fell. 'Kitten…'
'Don't.', she interrupted him. 'I couldn't make myself hurt you, and instead of seeing that as my care for you, you saw it as a challenge, and in the end, you made me feel… not safe.'
Damon gasped as anger, anguish, and helplessness poured into him through their mate bond. He could feel all the love Talia had for him mixed with embarrassment and fear and many other emotions he couldn't identify, but he knew they were not good.
Damon was her home, yet he made her feel not safe, and he had no idea how to fix this.
"Don't follow me.", Talia said. "I want to be alone."
"Talia…", Damon called and moved toward her, but instead of grabbing her arm, he grabbed only an afterimage as Talia was already gone among bushes, proving that in their previous spar she held back on her speed. Actually, she disappeared from sight so quickly that Damon suspected that might be one of her magical abilities, but he didn't want to clarify it in front of everyone present. They already saw too much.
"Go after her!", Sandy exclaimed at her fellow guards while approaching Keith who still didn't move from the ground how Talia left him. "I will stay with Keith until Doctor Travis reaches here."
At Sandy's words, Liam, Pierce, Caleb, and Lulu dashed in the direction where Talia went.
"Where are you going!?", Maya shouted after Damon.
"What do you think?", Damon asked without stopping his steps. It was obvious that he was going after Talia.
"What about the pack run?"
This question made him pause and look at Maya. "Nothing matters without Talia."
"What are we going to tell the pack?", Maya asked. "You know that Elders are only waiting for you to slip and call you incompetent?"
"Tell them that their Alpha screwed up. I am incompetent. If I can't keep my own mate, how can I take care of the pack?"
Maya wanted to tell him to stop, but she could hear how broken he was, so she only nodded in understanding.
