Nora didn't want to part from her fancy things, but she also had no intention of getting beheaded. "Let's not rush into things. Talia said…"
Damon narrowed his eyes at Nora. "How did you call her?"
Nora felt chills down her spine, telling her she was in danger. She quickly lowered her head. "Luna Talia said I'm just an Omega. As such, I'm not a high-ranking member." And she can keep her head on her shoulders.
"Good that you know," Damon said.
Nora released the breath she was holding. Her insides tightened when Damon continued talking.
"Omegas don't have these kinds of clothes and jewelry. Which one will it be? Are you going to part with them willingly? If you insist on keeping them as Beta's daughter, I will be magnanimous and bury you with those so you can wear them in the afterlife."
Nora felt like crying, and she cursed herself for not thinking ahead. If she had fled the pack earlier, if she had moved faster… she would escape and not be stuck in this situation.
"It's not all bad, Nora," Talia said. "We won't take away your personal bank accounts. Once you pass the rehabilitation program in the Blue River pack, you will get access to those."
"Will you allow me to pass?" Nora asked bitterly. How she saw this, she knew too much, and Damon and Talia would never let her go.
"That will depend on you," Talia said. "The programs at the Blue River pack are great. Do you know that Marcy died while protecting a ten year-old orphan girl?"
Nora was not happy to think that the pinnacle of her existence should be to sacrifice her life for an orphan. What kind of nonsense rehabilitation programs are those? And did Talia say that Marcy was dead!? How could that be a good thing?
Nora prioritized her life over everything else, and she ended up joining the group of people who were set to leave for the Blue River pack. She was officially Nora, an Omega. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
After Alphas confirmed deals with Damon, they went to their respective territories to prepare for the official handoff while taking with them new pack members.
As time passed, the area around the packhouse belonging to the Red Moon pack was clearing of people, leaving the group for the Dark Howlers pack last.
The trip via land from the Red Moon pack to the Dark Howlers pack would take a whole day (with minimum stops). Considering that they had more than two hundred people moving, Damon didn't want to waste time. He rented an airbus that could seat everyone. The pilot was included as Damon didn't want to waste four hours of his life in flight that could be reduced to a few seconds with Cornelia's magical help.
If they didn't conceal the existence of witches and magic, everyone would move via a teleportation spell, but they were not ready for that step, so Damon's wallet bled for this.
The plane rental was an easy part. Securing antinausea medicine and antidepressants for more than two hundred people was a problem. Omegas would normally freak out while in flight because their instinct was to feel the solid ground under their feet. Antidepressants would numb their senses to the point of not caring where they were. The shaking would still make them puke their guts out, so Damon thought of getting antinausea medicine as well.
Renting a plane (and a pilot) was costing him a fortune already, and he didn't want to pay for deep cleaning of the airplane's interior on top of it.
Mindy, Gideon, Owen, and Zina traveled via plane to provide comfort to Omegas in flight.
Damon, Talia, Keith, Arya, Sandy, Tyler, James, Cornelia, George, and Dawn stayed behind to organize warriors that arrived from allied packs. Until the official handoff of territories was completed, they needed to protect the borders.
With so many things to do, Talia and Damon didn't get to search for Alpha Edward's secret stashes of documents, but Talia didn't think it was a big deal.
"Those secrets are there for decades, maybe more," she said. "One or two more days won't make a difference. Our warriors will protect this place, and we will return here after the ceremony."
Damon was not so optimistic about the timelines. "It will take some time for newcomers to settle into a routine, and we should be present to ensure things go smoothly. Also, you didn't check on your pack in a while."
Talia realized Damon was right. "Axel would contact me if anything urgent is going on there. As for the Dark Howlers pack… I can come here for a few hours with Cornelia or Amelia and check out stuff while you are busy with your Alpha duties."
"Let's talk about it later," Damon responded. He didn't want to tell her that she shouldn't come, but he didn't want to part from her. On the other hand, Keith and Arya proved themselves as loyal and capable, so maybe a few hours would be fine.
Mindy texted them that the plane was getting close to landing in the Dark Howlers pack, so Cornelia prepared a teleportation diagram that would come in handy for the days to come. She was also interested in finding information about witches being used for experiments.
~ the Dark Howlers pack ~
The evening descended on the packhouse, and the garden was filled with people.
Gideon stood on the podium in front of an altar where flames danced while releasing exotic fragrance into the air.
Next to Gideon were Mindy, Damon, Talia, Maya, and Caden, all dressed in ceremonial clothes.
On the side were Elders, ready to witness the ceremony of more than two hundred new members joining the pack at the same time. Other than the influx of pack members, they all heard that the territory of the Dark Howlers pack had expanded. It was a big deal.
The crowd moved in an organized line toward the podium. One by one, they cut their palms to release a few drops of their blood into a metal chalice that had engravings of wolves.
Dawn stood by George's side, and Zina was with Owen.
James was there also, with Cornelia by his side. He was staring at the scene unfolding and squeezing Cornelia's hand excitedly every few seconds.
James couldn't believe that this was happening. He was with his mate, in front of people, without hiding. It was surreal. If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up.
When the crowd reached about halfway, Gideon called James and Cornelia to step forward.
"James Redmayne," Gideon called solemnly. "Do you reject all ties to your previous pack and pledge your loyalty to the Dark Howlers pack?"
"I do," James responded seriously.
Gideon turned to Damon. "Alpha Damon, do you accept James as a member of our pack?"
"I do," Damon said with a smile.
Since James was set to become Gamma, he needed a separate ceremony. Cornelia was James' mate, so they decided to include her as well.
"Cornelia of the Silverflame Coven," Gideon called, "Do you accept the Dark Howlers pack as your home and family?"
Cornelia glanced at James. "I do."
Gideon turned to Damon. "Alpha Damon, do you accept Cornelia as a member of our pack?"
"I do," Damon responded.
Gideon handed James a knife, and James cut his hand. Next, Cornelia took the knife and cut hers. They had no idea how this would go because it was unheard of a witch participating in a werewolf ceremony and joining a pack, but the worst thing would be that it would fail. At least, that's what they hoped for.
