~ the Blue River pack ~
Talia smiled before opening her eyes. She knew that the warm body next to her was Damon's, and his addictive scent of the forest and dark chocolate was all around her. It was her favorite way to wake up regardless of the nonfamiliar surroundings like a guest bedroom in the packhouse of the Blue River pack.
"Good morning, kitten", Damon greeted her, and she could hear that he was smiling.
"Good morning", she responded and rubbed her cheeks on his chest.
Damon chuckled and pushed her hair to the side, to reveal the left side of her neck. His eyes flashed in approval. His mark was still there.
Ever since their double-marking in the Midnight Guardians pack, his mark was visible on Talia's neck as proof that she was his. After several markings that faded rather quickly, this one was still visible and going strong.
To Damon, it looked like two wolves overlapping and howling at the moon, but Talia said that there was only one wolf, a forest, a moon, and stars. They couldn't agree on what it looked like, but they agreed that the mark was there, and it was nearly identical to Talia's mark on Damon's neck.
"Enjoying the sight of your handiwork?", Talia asked, knowing very well where Damon was looking. He would do that every morning, and a few times during the day.
"I enjoy that you are mine, kitten."
"I am yours even without the mark."
Damon knew that, but… "This is for everyone to see that you are taken. Mine." He leaned to kiss his mark and a shaky sigh escaped her lips. It was such a sensitive spot.
"Mrs. Blake", Damon called in a husky voice. "If you keep clinging onto me like that, we won't get out of this bed."
Talia looked at him with a pout. Why did he make it sound like it was her fault? He started it! And that thing poking her belly was definitely his erection!
Before she could retort, Talia's eye lost focus for a moment, and then she said, "Kai and Meg arrived. Omegas are showing them to their room."
"Good", Damon was pleased. "With them here, Meg can handle Cornelia when she arrives."
Cornelia called them around midnight, asking for a room and to be considered as part of Talia's group. They had no idea what Cornelia was up to, but they knew that Cornelia only needed coordinates because she will teleport into her room, and they both hoped that she won't cause a commotion and expose the existence of witches.
Damon and Talia arrived on the previous day, before any other guests.
The event will officially last for two days, with the first day being Tatiana's Luna ceremony, and the party will extend to the next day. Close friends and family could stay longer, but others will be expected to leave during or after the second day.
Damon's and Talia's intention was to attend Tanya's Luna ceremony as representatives of two separate packs. Considering the latest developments with the Guardians, the duo decided to postpone announcing publicly that Damon's Luna and Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack were the same person.
For that purpose, Maddox arranged for their rooms to be in a separate wing, where Tony, Kalina, and the other Wilkow sisters will be, so outsiders from other packs won't know that Damon and Talia were sharing a room.
Damon will be officially attending Tanya's Luna ceremony with Maya, Caden, Keith, Pierce, Caleb, and Lulu. They all got rooms in the same area.
Four Talia's guards were present as part of the group from the Dark Howlers pack, but they will be keeping an eye on Talia.
Two out of six Talia's guards were absent. Liam stayed in the Dark Howlers pack with his newly-mated witch Amelia. Sandy was in the Midnight Guardians pack with Tyler, adjusting to her powers and learning about being a Gamma.
Mindy and Gideon were also present, but they are attending independently of Talia and Damon. They are part of Alpha's family and staying on the third floor of the packhouse in Mindy's old room, because Mindy is THE sister, and Gideon is the brother-in-law.
Talia was set to attend Tanya's Luna ceremony as the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack with her Betas, Meg and Kai. And since last night, Cornelia will join that mysterious lineup.
Yasmin wanted to attend the ceremony as well, but Axel asked her to take it easy because of the pregnancy.
Now that they were aware of the Guardians lurking from the shadows, Axel didn't want to take risks.
After Talia ventured into Vincent's memories, Vincent was in a coma-like state for eleven days. When he came around, he was disoriented and unsure about where he was. They kept monitoring his condition, but he didn't seem to be lying and healers didn't pick up anything abnormal other than him bursting into crying spells several times a day.
They used this opportunity to gather blood and tissue samples, confirming that Vincent was not a werewolf, a human, or a witch. What was he? No one knew exactly, but he was stronger and faster than his physique would show, his nails were tough as diamonds, yet he didn't possess healing abilities more than a human would have. His body showed resistance to chants and spiritual energies, but his wounds closed quickly without scarring after they applied the medicinal paste made of herbs.
Liseli wanted to do more tests and to get into his mind again, but Talia didn't want to make a guinea pig out of him or worse... to kill him. Vincent was so damaged from the first attempt, and Talia feared that if they do it again, the guy will be completely useless.
Before they let Vincent go, Cornelia and Yasmin cast a tracking spell on him with the hope that he will lead them to the base of the Guardians.
Axel and the witches staying in the Midnight Guardians pack had a task to follow Vincent's location, and as of now, Vincent was still on the move.
Ex-Alphas, Sophia and Isaac, were questioned about their connections to the Guardians, but they were either not aware that they communicated with a Guardian in disguise, or they were good liars. They seemed genuinely distressed about the possibility of outsiders coming in without being noticed.
The security around Sophia and Isaac increased and now their every interaction was recorded.
James regretted that they didn't let Vincent talk to the ex-Alphas while they monitored them secretly, but by the time he came up with that idea, it was already too late because Vincent was comatose, and the ex-Alphas were alerted that an outsider was trying to approach them.
Damon's and Talia's weeks in the Midnight Guardians pack passed quickly, and they needed to return to the human realm. The vacation (if it can be called as such) was over.
Damon and Talia did as much as they could to prepare for attending this event at the Blue River pack. They were aware of dangers, or at least some of them, but Talia refused to hide. This was a territory of their allies, and it was a perfect place to lure her enemies to show their faces. She hoped that she was not biting down more than she could chew and that her presence here won't put her loved ones in danger.
