Lulu's transformation into her wolf form was not complete when her fangs dug into the thigh of one rogue. She jerked her head, ripping the piece of his flesh before dashing to her next opponent.
Talia was not idle either. She was kicking and punching, taking advantage of the fact that rogues were reluctant to harm her, confirming that the guy was not lying. They didn't want to harm her.
But why?
They already confirmed they were aware of her identity as Damon's mate. Why would they kidnap her? And how did they know she was here? Damon and Talia came early, and they were careful to act as Alpha Damon and Alpha Natalia when they were out of their room. Sure, people might think that the two Alphas were chummy, but not to the point of knowing that Talia was Damon's mate.
Actually… the rogues didn't say they knew Talia was here with Damon. Their words were about knowing that she LEFT with Damon. Did that mean someone from the Dark Howlers pack was working with rogues? To make things worse, only a handful of people knew that Luna Talia left with Alpha Damon. Talia's insides churned at the thought that someone from the packhouse betrayed her. Who could it be? She didn't think Damon would be a suspect, but she trusted everyone that came to her mind. Maya? Caden? Zina? Rose? Mindy? Gideon?
This mental instability was enough for one rogue to grab her shoulder. Talia punched him in the nose and shook her hand. That hurt.
'What are you doing?' Liseli growled at Talia. 'Let me take them!'
In the spur of the moment, Talia forgot she had a wolf form that was a killing machine. But she also forgot something else that was more efficient.
Talia dashed through the rogues and shouted, "Lulu! This way!"
"AHHHH!" A rogue screamed as Lulu bit a chunk of his arm. That was the last rogue that didn't shift yet into his wolf form.
Lulu dashed toward Talia, and when Talia confirmed they were separated from the rogues, Talia stepped in front of Lulu. With one thought from Talia, all rogues fell to the ground.
There were nine wolves there, capable of standing.
Talia couldn't control her aura precisely to press on each rogue individually. However, she could direct her aura in a specific direction, and that was enough to freeze them all.
'Liseli, I need them as humans.'
'On it.'
Talia was unsure if Liseli affected Lulu as well, but two seconds later, all rogues and Lulu were in their human forms, naked.
Rogues were sprawled on the ground, unable to get up, and Talia gaped when she realized that the rogues were clothed. What kind of magic was that?
On a closer look, Talia realized that those were not clothes. It was some kind of body paint.
Talia thought how that was convenient. By painting clothes on their bodies, even if they shift between forms, they won't be perceived as naked as long as they don't let others get a good look at them.
The guy who was talking to Talia before raised his head to look at Talia incredulously.
Talia smirked, guessing that he was the leader here. "You know I'm Luna Talia. That should mean Damon marked me." She pointed at her neck, where the mark was visible. "Did you think I'm a pushover?"
"Even with Alpha Damon marking you," the rogue spoke with difficulty. "You shouldn't be this powerful."
Talia sneered. "It seems you don't know everything."
Rogues eyes darted behind Talia. "Your confidence will be the end of you."
Talia felt the hairs on her back rising.
Did she actually make a mistake about Lulu? Was Damon right about…?
Talia whipped her head to see from where the rustling was coming, only to see two guys there. Where did they come from? And they were huge.
Lulu was in her human form, wrestling one guy that was nearly double her size, while the second one was coming for Talia.
"They told us you have an Alpha aura, but a marked female shouldn't be able to suppress the group like this," the guy who was approaching Talia said. "Release them."
Talia's eyes darted to Lulu. The guy was pinning her down, and it didn't look like Lulu could escape him. He was just too big.
Talia was dejected. Why were these guys after her? Why can't they leave her alone?
Talia was angry. How dare they just come and demand that she comes with them? She was not stupid.
Talia was scared. What if they hurt Lulu? How many people did they hurt so far?
Talia's anxiousness skyrocketed. What if they hurt Damon? Why couldn't she reach him through the mind-link? The mate bond was there, so she knew he was alive, and she hoped that if he was in distress, she would be able to feel it, but there was nothing.
Talia balled her hands into fists to conceal that she was trembling.
"What will you do if I don't release them?" Talia asked with all the confidence she could muster.
"Your friend has a nice body. You will get to watch. We might let her live if she serves us well."
Talia's insides tightened. Was he talking about…? She couldn't finish that thought.
Talia stared at the scene where the guy on top of Lulu grabbed her hair and then forced a kiss on her. Lulu bit him back, and he slapped her.
Talia saw a lot of violence in her life, but usually, she was the one at the receiving end.
Was this how other Omegas felt while Anna was beating Talia? Why didn't they help? How could they just watch over and over again and do nothing to stop it?
Talia shook those unpleasant memories away. This was different. Someone else was being bullied because of Talia.
Listening to their demands would be foolish, and letting them bully Lulu further was unacceptable.
Lulu groaned as the guy twisted her arm, and for Talia, that was the last straw.
How could Talia conceal her powers if the price to pay was that people around her needed to suffer?
Talia had enough, and Liseli agreed.
"What makes you think I will allow you to have your way?" Talia asked as her eyes started flickering in silvery light.
The guys behind her still couldn't move a muscle, and two guys in front of her started feeling pain all over. Talia didn't know what Liseli was doing to the two, as she was concentrating on her Alpha aura that held the group in the back pinned to the ground, but it was evident that rogues were suffering.
Lulu got up from under the guy who was bullying her, and Talia could see a big bruise on the left side of Lulu's face. There were more scratches and bruises, and Talia told herself to focus on dealing with rogues. She will heal Lulu later.
Lulu kicked the guy and cursed at him, and then she looked at Talia.
Lulu saw Talia glow and do magic during their pack run when she healed Keith and dispelled black runes from Damon, but this was different.
The energy coming out in waves from Talia was tangible, and the silvery light pulsated around Talia like someone was turning on and off a lightbulb; Talia was the lightbulb.
"It seems you are missing quite a bit of information about me," Talia sneered at the rogues. She gestured to two newcomers to join the others, and they moved with difficulty.
