With the device turned off, Talia closed her eyes to sense her surroundings. Everything in close proximity was clear, but that didn't stretch far before images in her mind became blurry again.
'Kitten! Kitten!' Damon's voice sounded in Talia's head, and she nearly teared up at the anguish that came with it.
'I'm here, Damon.'
'WHERE ARE YOU!?' There was a relief, but the anger came quickly to cover it up.
Damon, Maya, Caden, Keith, and Caleb reached the packhouse only to discover that Talia went out to investigate the disappearance of guards.
Didn't he tell her to stay put!?
Damon found Ivy, Lily, and Mila with ease. From them, Damon heard that Lulu and Talia went into the forest, and he couldn't find them in the direction Lily pointed at. Since then, Damon was running around aimlessly, hoping to find Talia and doing his best not to lose his mind while tearing into the bodies of a few rogues who were unfortunate enough to be noticed by Damon and his unit.
'Goddamit, kitten! Are you set on making me die early from anxiety? Where are you!?' Damon was still shouting, but Talia could feel that he was calmer now.
'Follow the bond,' Talia said. 'I'm with Lulu. We found a device that disrupts the mind-link. There are more of those in the area. If your mind-link is not working, you are close to one, and it seems they are also jamming our ability to sense surroundings.'
Damon remembered that his ability was acting up this evening. He thought that maybe he drank too much or someone drugged him, but it didn't cross his mind that there were devices that could interfere with the ability of an Alpha. Who could make such a thing?
Damon focused on sensing his bond with Talia, and he could feel the pull in a specific direction, telling him where Talia was. That was all he needed to run as fast as his paws carried him.
"I can reach Pierce!" Lulu said excitedly. "Their group bumped into rogues. Lidia and Daria got hurt, and Pierce and Jordan took them to get medical help. Kalina, Varya, and their Omega went to meet up with Mila, Ivy, and Lily, and I'm sure they will come here soon. Keith and the guys are also reachable!"
Talia mind-linked Meg, confirming Talia's suspicion that rogues hid these signal-jamming devices through the forest.
Talia realized that someone clever was behind this. If they cut off all communication, people would notice right away. Instead, rogues covered some specific areas, making it appear that the other person was unavailable. They crippled the defenses of the Blue River pack, and people were not aware of it.
Talia stared at the electronic device. "Who could make this?"
Lulu leaned closer to give it a sniff. "It looks human-made."
Talia's silvery eyes widened. "Humans?"
Lulu looked at four rogues with a sneer. "They work for whoever pays. Humans included."
Talia's eyes were perfect circles now. "Are you saying that humans are behind this?"
Lulu shrugged. She didn't know, but… "Anything is possible. We might be concealing our existence from humans, but that doesn't mean they don't know about us. Didn't you watch a movie or two about our kind? Sure, humans got a lot of things wrong, but they got some things right also. That's not a coincidence."
Talia didn't like this. Humans? Didn't the rogue say how they came here for Luna Talia? Why would humans want Luna of the Dark Howlers pack? If they wanted to discuss business, they would contact Damon. Or were they planning to keep Talia hostage and force Damon into something?
All this was giving her a big headache and she really missed Damon and his hug that could make everything better.
"What the…?" Lulu's question was cut short, but it alerted Talia to pay attention to their surroundings.
Small movements could be detected, and Talia figures approaching.
"Seven of them," Talia said under her breath, hoping there were not more that she couldn't pick up.
"Is that Alpha Damon?"
Talia's body tensed when she realized that her senses were messed up again, and the range of how much she could feel clearly on her left was reducing. "It seems they have on them one of those jamming devices."
"Oh, shit…" Lulu mumbled when she confirmed that her mind-link was not working again. "How many of those interfering gadgets are there?"
Talia didn't want to find out.
Four rogues still suppressed by Talia's aura were visibly cheerful now, and one of them said, "Give up, Luna Talia. It will be easier for everyone. Our orders are to not harm you, but we will resort to force if necessary."
Talia ignored them.
"Damon and guys are on their way," Talia said to Lulu, loudly for others to hear, hoping that they would give up and run before they got caught.
Lulu understood the meaning behind Talia's words, but the rogues didn't show an intention of retreating, so there was only one option. "Let's keep them busy until Alpha Damon comes. Maybe he finds a way to interrogate them successfully."
The leader of the rogues shouted at their reinforcements, "Alpha Damon is coming! We need to hurry! Watch out for Luna Talia's…"
He stopped talking when Lulu punched him in the face.
Talia realized that with more rogues coming, the ones they captured were becoming bolder and she worried that they will distract them if the fight erupts.
Talia waved at Lulu to step to the side, and then the crunching of bones was heard as four rogues cried and collapsed.
'We got just their legs, right?' Talia asked Liseli.
'Can you stop worrying about the people who don't have good intentions?' Liseli snorted when she felt that Talia felt guilty about it. 'Just do you, girl, and let me handle bad stuff. Focus on our guests who are approaching steadily.'
At Liseli's words, another wave of anxiety hit Talia. These rogues had no intention of talking as they were already in their wolf forms.
Should she use her powers? Didn't she already expose herself? Talia thought that it didn't matter, not anymore.
Talia could feel the adrenaline rush coming from Liseli, and she gave in.
With a flash of light, Talia became a light gray wolf enveloped in silvery light which made her glow in the dark forest.
The first wolves had reached them already, and growls shook the area as Lulu was entangled in a fight.
Talia kept Lulu on her left, and she exerted her aura in other directions, effectively suppressing the rogues coming from her right.
One rogue from the front jumped at Talia, and she avoided him clumsily, regretting that she didn't get any training to fight in her wolf form.
Sure, Liseli was deadly and charged with instincts to avoid danger and strike enemies. They also had powers, but when everyone was moving swiftly, and there were friendly units around, it was difficult to use those powers.
Talia didn't have time to count, but there were more than ten newcomers.
Talia glanced at Lulu to see that she was facing three wolves, jumping, biting, and kicking, each looking for a chance to get closer to the neck and deliver an incapacitating injury.
Everything around Talia was horrid, but she didn't allow herself to freeze in fear.
