Damon was in the garden with Caden, Maddox, Tony, and Cristian. They were chatting to pass the time while waiting for Talia to finish her challenges so that the ceremony could start.
"It will be alright," Caden assured Damon. "Do you want to hear their progress?"
"No need," Damon said. He could feel Talia's emotions, and there was not a shred of negativity. Actually, she was happy, so he knew that his kitten was doing fine.
Damon could mind-link Talia himself, but he didn't want to interrupt. What if she ended up in trouble because he distracted her?
He could imagine her walking through the forest and stepping on a slippery rock and falling, and… what if their pup gets hurt?
Damon shook those thoughts away. It will be fine. Talia was careful and not clumsy. And then he remembered that unless he was holding onto her, she was prone to accidents!
No, no… Talia changed. When they met, Talia's body was covered with injuries, and she bumped her head into a fridge and she fell off a bed, but she was a different girl now.
Then, she was a weak she-wolf without her wolf, yet now she was powerful and confident, so falling off the bed was replaced with random explosions and teleportations!
He was super anxious now.
Damon puffed his cheeks and took deep breaths while repeating that it will be alright.
'Mate is close,' Sapa's voice sounded in Damon's head.
Damon swiftly downed his glass of scotch and kept it on the nearby table before dashing onto the platform where Gideon and Mindy were waiting.
Caden was right behind Damon.
"Are they coming?" Caden asked, and Damon's eyes were glued onto the darkness where the forest began.
Four figures emerged from there leisurely, like they were not participating in a challenge, but they took a stroll in the park.
Elders gathered in front of the podium, waiting for Talia, Maya, Meg, and Sandy to arrive and deliver the necessary number of scarves.
"Our Luna candidate is here!" Elder Agatha exclaimed to get everyone's attention.
"Let's see if she has the necessary number of scarves," Elder Thomas said in a low voice, but everyone was quiet now, and they could hear him clearly.
Talia's expression was unreadable as she extended her hand with black scarves. Elder Charlie accepted them and started counting while separating them.
"One. Two. Three... Six. Seven. Is that all?"
"That's all from me," Talia responded.
"That's not enough!" Elder Agatha said while looking around at other Elders. Now what?
"These are from me," Maya said while handing another bunch of fabric.
Elder Charlie took them and counted, "One. Two. That's a total of nine."
Elder Agatha frowned. "Still not enough."
"Maybe with these, it will be enough," Meg said while extending her hand.
There were two more scarves there, and it was more than ten, but then Sandy also gave two more.
"We have thirteen!" Elder Agatha announced.
"These should be presented by the future Luna," Elder Patsy said with a frown. "How are we supposed to interpret these? Will Alpha Damon take four Lunas?"
Talia couldn't believe this. Was he trying to stir trouble?
"There will be no such thing," Talia said sternly. "I am here to be the Luna of the Dark Howlers pack, but I have no intention of doing it alone. My aides will work with me just how they did in this challenge." Talia established eye contact with every Elder without flinching. "The Dark Howlers pack is the largest pack in North America, and it's my honor that the Moon Goddess decided I should be your Luna. However, I will rely on my friends to advise and keep me in check so I don't get consumed by the power that comes with this position." She lifted her chin arrogantly. "Any complaints?"
"No, no," Elder Agatha was quick to say, and she shot a glare at Elder Patsy. "I am sure there are no complaints. You presented thirteen scarves out of twenty. That's three more than necessary. We, the Elders of the Dark Howlers pack, approve of you as our Luna."
With that, Elders moved to open a path for Talia to the podium where Damon waited for her.
Caden was also there, but Talia's whole world narrowed to her mate.
Damon was wearing a ceremonial leather garment that hung at his waist like a miniskirt, and the rest of his body was covered in black symbols that were painted on him. Damon wore a necklace made of teeth that gave him an air of danger, and nothing concealed his impressive form.
Damon noticed Talia was checking him out, and he straightened his back to give her a better view.
'You like what you see?' Damon asked through their private mind-link.
'You look delicious,' Talia responded.
'Not only look. I am delicious,' he said cockily. 'Now, come here, so we finish the formalities, and I can see what you are hiding under that skirt.'
Talia strode with confidence that made Damon hold his breath, and he couldn't stop staring at her face, which was adorned with blush.
'You are beautiful,' he said.
'I was going for fierce, but beautiful is fine.'
Damon's smile reflected in his eyes as he extended his hand for Talia to take.
'Did you have any issues with the challenges?' Damon asked.
'No,' she responded.
If it were anyone other than Talia, it would be difficult. Some traps were well hidden, and thanks to Talia's ability to sense surroundings, they avoided a few spots that would be dangerous. But even with that, Talia found that some scarves were missing. There were only fifteen scarves hidden in the forest, which meant that someone wanted to sabotage her.
One scarf was tied to the top of a rotting tree, and Sandy climbed it under Talia's guidance on where to put her weight without falling.
Talia knew that even if she returned with less than ten scarves, Damon wouldn't care, but it would give a reason to the Elders to create problems. She was unsure how much trouble they could cause, but she knew that when a seed of doubt was planted in people's hearts, it didn't take much for it to grow. Talia wanted to start this right.
Damon gave Talia's hand a squeeze. 'It's happening, kitten.'
'It is.'
'You still have a chance to change your mind.' They talked about this more than once.
Damon told her that she didn't need to go through the ceremony as she would always be his mate and Luna, and he will never accept any other. However, Talia didn't want to hear about it. Yes, there was a chance of things going haywire because she was the Alpha of another pack, but she wanted to be Damon's Luna for everyone to know, and she didn't want to choose between those two.
Talia wanted the acknowledgment of the Dark Howlers pack. It was important.
If they didn't go through the ceremony, she will never be a member of Damon's pack, and his people would wonder why Talia didn't become their Luna. Rumors would spread that she might be incompetent or maybe that Damon was ashamed of her, and their enemies would definitely use that to sow discord. That was something Talia didn't want to allow.
