"What a way to break the news," Tony said while greeting Damon and Talia. "I think Alpha Richard's jaw is on the floor."
"I am surprised that only one foolish soul blocked your way," Maddox chimed in. "Who do you think sent him?"
"It doesn't matter. It's not every day that two Alphas come out as a mated couple," Damon said proudly while looking at Talia with sparkles in his eyes. He was truly happy. "What will you drink, kitten?"
"I feel like something sour," Talia said, and Damon waved at the waiter to receive instructions for drinks.
Talia was aware of many eyes on them, but she didn't care. Coming out with Damon and saying openly they were a mated couple felt like a huge burden fell off her chest.
Talia's hair was up to expose Damon's mark on her neck, and her mark on his neck was also visible for everyone to see that Damon and Talia accepted each other as equals.
Their entrance went smoothly, and Talia knew that people were still in shock. Soon, they will snap out of it, and the real show will begin.
Luckily, they had a number of close friends in attendance; otherwise, Talia would be worried about other Alphas banding against them. The possibility of the Dark Howlers pack and Midnight Guardians pack merging as one would be perceived as dangerous to many others. Damon had numbers and strength, and Talia had mysterious powers. They could easily suppress any other pack.
'I want to greet Talia,' Dawn whined into the pack link for Zina to hear.
'Me too,' Zina responded.
Two friends were at the party with Owen who was standing next to them with his hands deep in his trouser pockets as a reminder that he shouldn't hug the chamomile-infused goddess by his side. Owen was under the impression that the hardest thing would be to keep lecherous people away from Zina, but now he understood that the biggest challenge for him was to control his urge to whisk Zina away. Since they arrived, they caught a few people looking at them curiously, but none approached them. Yet.
'At least you are with your mate,' Dawn said to Zina wistfully while looking in the direction where George was. He wore black trousers and a white shirt, and Dawn wanted to go there and cling to him so everyone would know he was taken.
'You think I'm having an easier time because Owen is here pretending to be YOUR mate?'
Dawn pressed her lips into a line. She wanted to make a point that there was no physical contact between Owen and her, but she knew that it wouldn't make it any better for Zina, who was enduring this situation while resisting the urges of her newly formed bond.
Dawn remembered that for the first few days after marking, the only thing on her mind was sticking to George so she could feel those addictive sparks… actually, even now, she wanted that, but she learned to control her impulses to a certain degree.
'We are in this together, Zi,' Dawn said. 'Just a bit more. We don't know if Alpha Edward will approach us, but we need to stay here until George says it's safe to leave without making it suspicious.'
'Let's go to the bar,' Zina suggested. 'Like that, we can be closer to Talia.'
'But we can't talk to her. If people suspect we are from the Dark Howlers pack…'
'I know,' Zina said. 'Just being nearby will make me feel better.'
They could mind-link Talia, but they guessed that Talia had too much on her plate already. Besides, Damon and Talia made it clear that Owen and Zina needed to show that they could stand on their own and not be a burden.
"Can we go to a bar?" Dawn asked Owen. Before coming here, they agreed that Dawn and Owen would do the talking because whenever Owen and Zina interacted, it was impossible to miss the lovey-dovey mood.
Owen had no objections to getting a drink or two.
Owen didn't like that Zina covered up his mark with makeup, but he knew it was necessary. He wondered at what point will all this blow into their faces. Only an idiot wouldn't notice that any type of communication between Dawn and him was forced, and that was NOT how mates behaved.
To make this charade convincing, Owen should put his arm around Dawn, but his wolf strongly objected to that idea. Also, putting a hand on Dawn meant saying goodbye to that part of his body because… George. And Owen wouldn't blame him because he would do anything to protect Zina.
They found two unoccupied barstools for Zina and Dawn, and Owen stood between them protectively.
"What will you have, ladies?" The bartender asked with a smile that froze when he saw Owen glowering at him. "Lieutenant Owen, what can I get for you?"
Owen had an urge to punch the bartender, and then he wanted to give the first order to Zina, but he couldn't do that because, in the Red Moon pack, warriors come first. "I will have a beer. As for the ladies…" Zina and Dawn ordered for themselves.
"You are doing great," Dawn gave Owen a few words of encouragement.
"You too," Owen responded, and Dawn flicked her head to look in the direction where George was, even though Owen didn't look that way.
Dawn's insides flipped when she saw that George was talking to a curvaceous blonde. The female in question had a black dress that was too tight and too short, and she had too much makeup on, and her smile directed at George stirred something murderous in Dawn. The only things keeping Dawn in her place were the fact that George didn't smile at the female, and there were a few other people in that group.
"Who is that?" Dawn asked in a low voice.
Owen didn't need more information to know about whom Dawn was inquiring. "I don't know."
"That's Penelope from the Night Sentinel pack," Zina said.
Dawn's brows came together when she recognized the name. "Alpha William's daughter?"
"Mhm," Zina confirmed. "If you look to the left, you will see that he is right there, eavesdropping on his daughter's conversation with Commander George."
Dawn didn't care about Alpha William. She couldn't stop staring at the woman who was shamelessly flirting with her mate! "Why is she sticking to my…"
'KHM-KHM!'
Owen loudly cleared his throat to cover up Dawn's next words.
Dawn jolted when Zina pinched her arm while tilting her head toward the bartender who was placing their drinks on the bar counter.
"This is young Alpha's birthday," Owen spoke to Dawn in his official tone. "High-ranking members from many packs are in attendance, and this is more than just a birthday event."
Zina thought that Owen was fantastic. She wanted to hug and kiss him all over, but she forced herself to focus on her friend, who was clearly in distress.
'Dawn?' Zina called through the pack link. 'Are you OK? You know that George wouldn't betray your bond, right? He is just talking because he is a Commander. If he shuts down, it would be bad, and if he came here, it would be worse. It's just a few hours, and then things will be back to normal.'
Dawn released a long breath.
'I'm sorry,' Zina said. 'If I didn't mess up at the market, we wouldn't be here, and you wouldn't need to endure.'
Dawn knew that Zina was right, but George would be here anyway, and if Zina didn't mess up, Dawn would be at home, wondering what George was doing. Would it be better just not to know?
