~ An unknown location ~
Three people were in a spacious room that belonged to a setting of an ancient castle with gray stone walls decorated with red and golden tapestries which hung between long and narrow windows.
A strip of simple red carpet extended from the heavy wooden door passing right in the middle of symmetrically arranged twenty empty chairs that stood empty, ten on each side. The red carpet was wide enough for three people to walk side-by-side without touching each other, yet it looked narrow compared to the big floor it covered to end at the edge of the elevated podium, which hosted two elegant chairs, resembling thrones fit for a king and queen.
Other than twenty-two chairs, there was no other furniture in the room.
A middle-aged man with a head full of black curly hair was sitting on the right chair that was on the elevated podium. He was Gregory Mello, the leader of the Guardians.
Julian was below the podium, on his knee, with his head hung low in front of Gregory.
Declyn stood on the side, leaning on the wall, and observing the scene of Julian apologizing (again) for failing to get a positive response from the Midnight Guardians pack.
If Talia could peek into this room, she would recognize Julian and Declyn as two Guardians who attended the Council of the Alphas. At that time, Julian used his real name, and Declyn introduced himself as Dex, the one who said he was in charge of the Sphere of Power.
"I'm sorry, but Alpha Talia is not responding. With the current approach, this is as far as I can accomplish.", Julian said.
"Maybe we should give her more time.", Declyn said.
"More time?" Gregory asked, his deep voice full of irritation echoed in the massive room. "She had plenty of time to think about meeting with us. She wanted to know more, but now it seems she changed her mind." Gregory glared at Julian. "How much did you tell her?"
Julian raised his gaze to meet Gregory's.
"I left a message that we are willing to talk."
"It was obviously not good enough", Gregory said in a clipped tone. "Give her more information. Show her that we are willing to share."
"Are we going to tell her about us?" Julian asked.
"Of course not.", Declyn said from the side. "Outsiders shouldn't know what we are. We are not going to change our rules because of one female."
Julian felt that they were unreasonable. "How can I show her that we are willing to talk without telling her anything? If I make a promise and then back out of it, her already shaky trust in us will collapse completely."
"We don't share with outsiders, but she won't be one for long.", Gregory said.
"She didn't seem willing to join us.", Julian reminded him. Talia refused them after the Council of Alphas, and her not accepting their requests for meetings was not a good sign either.
"That's why your job is to give her enough so that she becomes curious, then interested, and then she will be ours.", Gregory said to Julian. "Do I need to teach you how to do it?"
Julian wanted to protest, but he knew that it would only make Gregory snap at him. He got a mission to get a meeting with Talia, and his duty was to make it happen. It's been a long time since Gregory got so excited about a person.
It's not that Julian didn't think that Talia should become one of them, but over the centuries, they had many women of different backgrounds join their clan, and it didn't work out, so Julian didn't want to get his hopes up. But at the same time, he didn't dare speak against Gregory, so he bowed his head.
"I understand.", Julian said and left the room with heavy steps.
"Do you think he will succeed?", Declyn asked.
"Does he have a choice?" Gregory responded with a question. "Julian knows how to make things happen."
Declyn was not so optimistic. "Julian thinks that Alpha Talia is a naïve girl, and it seems you are underestimating as well."
Gregory wondered why Declyn spoke of Talia with respect. No matter how impressive her skills were, they confirmed that she couldn't be more than a few decades old, which meant she was a youngster.
"And what's your opinion on the female?"
"She is young, yet she had several Alphas standing behind her.", Declyn said.
Gregory's brows came together in obvious disapproval. "Were they trying to woo her?"
"No Alpha will lower himself just for wooing a female, and it's not in their nature to share. If more than one wanted her, there would be a fight, and if one of them claimed her as his, he wouldn't allow others to get so close. They seemed more submissive than seduced."
Gregory narrowed his eyes at Declyn. What they knew so far about Talia didn't justify that level of regard. Actually, ever since that meeting of Alphas, Declyn seemed a bit off, like he was not completely honest. Declyn and Gregory spent centuries together, and Gregory could notice the smallest changes in the behavior of his second in command.
"Are you hiding something?" Gregory asked.
"Are we back to you doubting me?", Declyn asked sourly. "I told you everything there is to say, and others confirmed my story. Why are you acting like a woman who found her husband cheating?"
Gregory waved impatiently. "Fine. What are you trying to say? Stop with the riddles. Why is it important how many Alphas supported her at that Council? And wasn't that meeting called by Alpha Edward in another attack on Alpha Damon?"
"That's exactly my point. It was between Alpha Edward and Alpha Damon, yet Alpha Talia took the spotlight. We should be careful when approaching her. Other than being powerful, Alpha Talia also has allies. Her appearance at the Council broke the equilibrium between generations. For the first time, I saw youngsters outsmarting the old wolves, and they did that by gathering around a female Alpha. Instead of claiming her, they respected her. I believe that we are about to witness significant changes in the upcoming years. If we act rashly, we might offend more than just one pack."
Gregory sneered in annoyance. There was a time when everyone trembled in front of them, yet now they needed to exercise caution around impulse-driven creatures like werewolves. The Guardians' powers were diminishing over time, and their reputation followed. Damn it!
"You talk about caution, yet I see opportunities. We can use the older Alphas to pressure Talia to come to us. You said that she offended Alpha Edward and Alpha Richard. Let's start with them."
"What's the rush?", Declyn asked.
"I would like her to join us before she meets her mate."
"Do you think that the Midnight Guardians pack allowed a new Alpha to take over without awakening her powers? For that, she needed her mate."
Gregory's temper flared. "Didn't you say that she is special? Mate is not a prerequisite for one to become the Alpha. Besides, I can't believe that she took over that pack with a mate, and we didn't get any news about it."
Notes:
See Gregory's pic in the comments.
Pics of Declyn and Julian are in the comments of chapter 565.
