After clearing the rogues in their assigned area, Damon and Talia swept the forest on their way to the main house. There, they found warriors organized by Alpha Cristian and Beta Imre to patrol areas and help with the injured.
Damon and Talia stayed there to help with the reports. They were relieved to see that no one from the Dark Howlers pack had more than a few scratches, and even though there were no fatalities among friendly units, some warriors required hospitalization.
Tony, Kalina, Pierce, Daria, Amelia, and Liam helped interrogate captured rogues.
Everyone was busy.
When things calmed down, Talia asked Damon to head to the pack hospital. She wanted to check on Arya and Keith.
Cristian also wanted to visit Arya, but then he heard that she had found her mate and was unconscious, so he gave up on going to the pack hospital. He couldn't help Arya, and there was a lot he could do there.
Cristian decided to focus on matters at hand and will visit Arya after she wakes up, preferably with Luna Michelle, assuming Arya doesn't seek solitude with her mate right away.
Damon asked Talia to rest first, but how could she rest when she knew that Arya's situation was not optimistic and she could help?
Talia pushed the door open of the room to see curtains separating three spaces. A nurse told them that General Arya was on the far right.
Other than the machines beeping, there were no other sounds in the room.
Talia peered behind the curtain to see Keith sitting on the chair next to Arya's bed, holding her hand and staring at her bandaged face with a complex expression on his handsome face.
"Hey," Talia called.
Keith's head snapped toward the sound, and he bolted to his feet.
"Talia, I didn't notice…" Keith's voice trailed as another figure appeared behind her, and Keith lowered his head. "Alpha Damon."
Talia raised her hand, indicating to Keith to sit. "How is she doing?"
Keith's gaze drifted toward Arya. "Uhm… the same."
Talia got on Arya's left and observed her. Talia remembered Arya as a beautiful and prideful she-wolf, and none of those were visible now.
"Your mate is brave," Talia said to Keith. "Her unit was attacked by rogues, and she acted as bait to increase the chances of others to survive." They saw that information in reports. "Thanks to her, no one in her unit was seriously injured. She was outnumbered, yet she fought bravely."
Keith had an odd mixture of feelings while listening to Talia praising Arya. Somehow, it was like one girlfriend praising another, and Keith felt like a cheater.
He knew it didn't make sense, but then… his feelings for Talia didn't diminish. The only thing that changed was that another female came into the picture. Arya's existence in Keith's life would be wonderful if Arya were not unconscious on the hospital bed.
It was messed up, and he didn't get it, but he remembered how Cassandra said his luck was tied to Talia's. Is this what Cassandra meant, that Talia will save his mate?
"Can you help her?" Keith asked Talia.
Talia smiled a little. "That's why I'm here."
Talia raised her hands and paused halfway. "I want to warn you not to get your hopes high. There is a limit to how much I can do."
Talia's body recuperated since she and Damon faced rogues; after all, she was an Alpha. However, her energy was returning slowly. Liseli said it was because Talia overworked herself overnight, and the best thing would be to sleep, but Talia couldn't sleep while knowing that Arya's life was hanging by a thread.
Talia was not confident that she could heal Arya completely, but even if she could help a little bit, it would be worth it.
Damon was unwilling to let Talia do this, but she promised to watch out for herself and not endanger their baby. After all the stress Talia went through in one night, Damon couldn't say no to her. He knew that if Arya didn't make it, Talia would blame herself forever. Just how she is blaming herself for Lulu's death.
Talia placed her hands above Arya's body, and her palms lit up in silvery light.
Talia was about to close her eyes and focus when she noticed something odd. There was a strand of energy going toward Keith like something was attracting it.
Talia thought of something. "Keith? Are you wearing the necklace Cassandra gave you?"
Keith was embarrassed to admit it, but he couldn't lie either. "Yes."
"Can I see it?" Talia asked.
Keith reached behind his neck to open the clasp.
Talia observed the cracked stone intently.
"Do you know what that is?" Damon asked.
"I think so," Talia responded.
When Talia accessed the second part of the message her mother left in the necklace Talia was wearing, Talia received a lot of information about the Guardians, their abilities, and how they use energies. More than half of the information was too esoteric to understand, but this necklace reminded her of a storage device for abilities.
Guardians could store their abilities in specific containers for others to use. Each Guardian took pride in what they could do, so these items were rare, normally given to lovers as a sign of sincerity, symbolizing one's commitment to a relationship. It was like giving a part of themselves.
Talia was unsure if she could do anything about the cracked necklace, but she thought it would be worth a try. Her healing could fix flesh; why not a rock? Actually, that was not a simple rock; it was a special material, able to contain energies that would normally dissipate.
She held the pendant and channeled her healing on the palm that started glowing in silvery light.
The light pulsated and intensified by the moment.
Damon was not happy about this. They came here to fix Arya so that Keith could have his mate (and leave Talia alone) and not to fix jewelry.
Damon was on the verge of snapping and telling her to stop it when…
'CRACK'
A sharp sound emanated from Talia's palm, and the silvery light abruptly got sucked into the white stone that was vibrant now.
Keith's eyes widened in wonder.
Talia grinned while inspecting the results of her work. She confirmed that her attempt was successful. She fixed the necklace!
"Here you go," Talia said to Keith while handing him the necklace. "I filled it with my energy. It will activate under the right conditions, and since this has a purpose of protecting and healing if you are close to your mate, it will speed up her healing process."
Keith took the white rock that was warm to the touch. "Thank you, Talia."
Damon groaned in displeasure. He didn't like that Keith addressed Talia without her title. But Talia told him it was fine because Keith was the head of her guards, and they met when she was a nobody, and Keith treated her well.
Maybe to others, that wouldn't be a big deal, but to Talia, who was neglected and bullied for two decades, Keith was one of the first friendly faces who welcomed her with a smile, without judging her based on appearance or lack of background.
From Talia's point of view, Keith deserved to address her casually. Besides, whenever outsiders were present, Keith would address her formally.
