Damon and Talia joined the feast to find a lot of people gathered behind the main house.
One long table was set up on the terrace to be higher than any other. There were two empty seats in the middle, obviously for Talia and Damon.
Axel, Yasmin, Meg, Kai, James, Cornelia, Keith, and Liam were sitting at the same table with a number of older-looking people that Talia identified as Elders of the Midnight Guardians pack.
In the garden below the terrace, Talia saw hundreds of heads looking at her. Those were members of the Midnight Guardians pack, seated at the tables that were arranged in lines giving it an appearance of a massive picnic, but in the evening and with no children present.
'Right, children…', Talia thought and glanced at Yasmin's still flat belly. The Midnight Guardians pack didn't have children in about two decades (when measured by the time of the human realm, and that was much longer for people here). Axel said that the long infertility was the punishment from the Moon Goddess because Sophia and Isaac didn't take care of Talia.
Axel believed that there will be more pregnancies and that the pack will be revived now that Talia was back.
Talia didn't dare to think of such things. Other than her girlfriends believing that she had an ability to bring mates together (aka Malia), now Axel was saying how Talia could bring babies. Did he think of her as a stork or some love-fertility deity? She shook those thoughts away as she felt numerous eyes trained on her.
"Thank you for your patience.", Talia's voice was not loud, but everyone could hear her. "I apologize for the delay. Alpha Damon and I had some urgent matters to handle."
Talia hoped they will believe her because she couldn't erase the goofy smile from her face, and Damon refused to loosen his grip on her hip that would allow a fraction of space between them.
"I know you are waiting for a while, and you are probably hungry. Let's start with food and any formalities will be postponed for before the pack run.", Talia said and people cheered as Omegas spilled between the tables, each carrying heaping plates that smelled of roasted and grilled meat that the pack members captured earlier that day. There was plenty for everyone.
Damon held a chair for Talia to sit on next to Meg, and she glanced over all faces at the table while lowering herself, taking a mental note of the story faces of Elders and their questioning gazes. Did they know that Damon beat up their ex-Alphas? That was a possibility. Talia wanted to explain how he did it only because he feared she was in danger and Sophia and Isaac did it, but she kept that to herself because she was the Alpha, and Alphas don't explain their actions as that can be seen as a sign of weakness.
Damon told her more than once that there is a difference between private and public, as well as between friends and everyone else. In this setting, she needed to show that she was above others because only like that people will have faith they are following the right person, the strongest one, the Alpha. And that was Talia. It was complicated.
Talia noticed four empty chairs at the long table. Those were for Sophia, Isaac, Tyler, and Sandy.
Tyler and Sandy said that they will join for the feast, but it seemed they got caught up in something else and that something must be carnal pleasures as they were enjoying their fresh mate bond.
Meg told Talia that healers checked on Sandy earlier that day and that Sandy's powers were awakening as expected. As soon as the healers confirmed that everything was fine, Tyler kicked them out of his room, and Talia could only imagine for what reason. Privacy.
Talia looked at Axel who was feeding Yasmin already. She wondered if they were able to enjoy this feast, or if the events in the main suite spoiled their mood. Talia didn't know what all happened while she was unconscious, but she remembered the unpleasant scene when she came around. It didn't seem right to act as if nothing had happened.
'How are your parents?' Talia's voice sounded in Axel's head through their pack mind-link.
'Mom has a hurt pride, and dad will be fine in about one week.'
Talia was glad that he didn't brush it off by saying how things were fine. She swallowed the apology that was bubbling to burst out of her. They were werewolves, who are rowdy in general, so even if this was the first time for Sophia and Isaac to get a beating in their own home, it shouldn't be the first time they had injuries.
'If I knew that the necklace will cause me to pass out for an hour, I would pick a better timing. Or at least tell Damon not to worry.', Talia explained.
Axel glanced at Talia. 'Are you OK? Did the necklace harm you?'
'No, no. It had a message from my mother.', Talia said. 'The side-effect was that I needed to be unconscious in order to hear it.' She added this last part because it didn't sound right to admit that the necklace knocked her out.
Axel's eyebrows shot up. 'Your mother? What did the message say?'
Talia paused to open her mouth because there was a forkful of grilled rabbit meat coming her way. She smiled at Damon while chewing. It was sweet and tender and cooked just right. Damon always made sure she got the best pieces, and he paced the feeding just right so that her mouth didn't go empty.
Talia touched the necklace, and then she responded to Axel's question.
'What I heard was more like a preview that confirmed there is a message only I could unlock when the time is right. But I didn't hear what those conditions are, so I will wear it and hope to trigger it accidentally.' She turned to look at Axel. 'Did Sophia ever talk about this necklace?'
'No.', Axel responded with finality. Sophia got that necklace from her jewelry box, where numerous other necklaces and bracelets were arranged above rings and below earrings. It didn't have any prominent position or anything special about it. 'I believe that my mother held it as something her brother left behind, a memento of some sort. And before you ask, I never heard of the ability to record messages into metal or precious stones, but your father found his mate, which means that both of them got an ability. Anything was possible.'
'Thank you, Axel.' Talia really meant it. 'I am aware that your position is not the best one.'
Talia knew the feeling of wanting to do anything for her parents, and she couldn't imagine how hard it was for Axel to help her if it meant going against Sophia and Isaac. In addition to that, he was raised to believe that he will be the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, but now it was Talia's. Was it possible that he was not bitter about it? She couldn't do anything about the Alpha position, but she could ease his life when it came to dealing with his parents.
'As long as you ensure that Sophia and Isaac stick to their retirement and not cause trouble, I will stay away from them.'
'You don't need to do that.', Axel said.
'I don't want to put you in a position where you need to choose between us, Axel. I can't accept what they did to me or to Damon, but they didn't harm you and you shouldn't hate them. I know they don't like Damon and me, but if they don't act against us, we won't touch them.'
'That is kind of you.'
'Don't speak to me like we are strangers, Axel. No matter who our parents are, I think of you as my brother.'
Axel's lips lifted into a smile. Even after everything that happened, Talia thought of him as her brother. He liked that.
