"I will do it," Evanora volunteered.
"Are you sure?" Talia asked.
Evanora looked at Edgar. "I reunited with my soulmate after a long time. This is Edgar's home, and we will watch over this place while catching up on what we missed. That one…" Evanora pointed at Declyn. "Can either help us or bugger off. That will apply to all Guardians."
"This is far from home," Feya said in a small voice, and Serena nodded in agreement to Feya's words.
"It won't be for long," Evanora responded. "How much I've heard, Amelia and Cornelia are close to opening a portal. We can open one here that connects to our Coven."
Serena and Feya relaxed at Evanora's words, and she continued, "We can treat this as our second home. The castle is big enough to accommodate many sisters, the place is isolated, and we will need many hands to help with restoring the natural balance in this area. I believe that Alphas present will appreciate our assistance in watching over this area."
Damon didn't trust the old witch. He was aware that Evanora was trying to hook up Talia into a mate-for-mate deal when he was under the influence of dark magic, and he didn't like it.
Seeing that Damon hesitated to approve of Evanora's idea, Gideon spoke, "If witches are here, they will speed up the healing of nature, and we can engage in a collaboration that will be beneficial for everyone." And he could also work closely with them and learn things. It was Shaman's dream come true.
Damon turned to Talia. "What do you think?"
"I will support witches of the Silver Flame Coven staying here, but let's not make it permanent," Talia said and turned to Evanora. "Treat this as a probation period. You will be required to maintain a low profile and not expose your existence to humans. We expect regular communication and insight into what you are doing. We won't impose our rules on you, but we want you to maintain an open-door policy. As long as you agree with these terms and abide by them, we won't ask you to leave."
Evanora agreed to this with, "We will need assistance from you to make this livable. Can we meet in three days?" She looked at Cristian, Maddox, and Tony in particular. "It would be good if other Alphas joined so we can discuss pressing matters. I'm sure my Coven can offer something in exchange for provisions and support. We are not warriors, and if you can assure our safety and prevent intruders, we can focus on doing our part."
Talia didn't see problems with this. She turned to Tyler. "I will leave it to you to connect this place with other packs. We want phone and video calls without interruptions…"
Axel and Yasmin agreed to stick around with Evanora so they could talk more with Edgar and introduce the babies.
Damon and Talia assured everyone was on the same page, and Valerian watched the couple with a small smile. He didn't miss that several people in the room were Alphas, yet they all spoke to Damon and Talia with respect.
After they were done talking, Damon picked up Valerian with "pardon my intrusion," and he followed Talia outside the castle.
The morning sun was up, and the forest around them was eerily quiet.
"Where are you going?" Keith asked as he and Arya ran toward the three people.
"To the Dark Howlers pack," Talia responded. "As soon as Amelia finishes the teleportation diagram, you can join us. We will go to the pack hospital first."
"How are you going?" Keith asked.
"Do you need to ask after witnessing how we dealt with the Guardians?" Talia responded with a smile.
Keith and Arya had matching frowns on their faces. They didn't like that Talia could just leave whenever she wanted and leave them behind.
"Watch over our Luna," Keith said to Damon.
Damon made a face, and if not for Keith's concern for Talia, Damon would punish him for disrespect. "She is my mate. Of course, I will watch over her."
Once they were in a clearing, Damon stopped and turned to Talia. "You can do this. Use my energy."
Damon's hands were under Valerian, and Talia put her hands over Damon's reluctantly. She was not sure if this would work.
Resonating with Damon included a deep mental connection, and she wondered if she would be able to do it with Valerian between them.
Talia realized her worries were for nothing from the moment her eyes locked with Damon's, and the world faded.
Valerian looked at Damon, whose eyes turned black, and then at Talia whose eyes turned silver. His expression stiffened when Talia's hair turned silver. She was the spitting image of her mother.
The winds picked up around Damon and Talia (and Valerian) in the center, and Talia focused mightily on the pack hospital of the Dark Howlers pack.
The sounds changed as if they passed through a mile-long tunnel within a millisecond, and the winds stopped abruptly to reveal a completely new scenery.
For the outsiders in the vicinity of the pack hospital of the Dark Howlers pack, they witnessed an unexpected gust of wind that looked like a precisely concentrated electric storm, and then three figures appeared. It happened so fast that many wondered if they imagined it as they went about their usual business.
"Are you alright?" Talia asked Damon. She was worried that she had overused his energy. Damon felt like a bottomless pit of darkness, but there had to be a limit somewhere.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "How about you?"
She smiled in response and then turned to the pack hospital that was buzzing with activity. People were rushing in, and the scent of blood permeated the air.
This reminded Damon and Talia that their pack was under attack from rogues.
'George, James!' Damon called through the mind-link while walking into the pack hospital. 'Talia and I are back. I need a status report!'
The waiting room was full of injured, and nurses were moving among them.
"Alpha! Luna!" One nurse cried when she recognized them.
Talia waved at the nurse to come over, as Damon was non-responsive with his eyes out of focus.
"What's the situation?" Talia asked.
"We are triaging patients and taking care of smaller injuries here. The ones who are more serious are sent upstairs for Doctor Travis to treat." She looked at Valerian. "We should get a wheelchair for him. Give me just a minute."
"Don't worry about me," Valerian said to Talia. "I've been like this for a long time, and a few hours or days won't make a difference."
Talia pressed her lips into a line. She didn't want her father to suffer a minute longer than necessary, but it was not right to leave all these injured people to wait.
She got an idea. "Damon, can you help me one more time?"
Damon blinked. "Sure. Tell me what to do."
Talia was touched that he agreed right away. His unconditional acceptance and trust warmed her heart.
The nurse got a wheelchair, and Damon put Valerian in it. Talia asked the nurse to wait for a moment, and then she held Damon's hand.
The clamor in the waiting room stopped when they saw Damon and Talia lighting up to form a two-colored sphere that pulsated as the silvery light overtook the darkness. The sphere then expanded rapidly to burst and form little specks of silver like someone threw glitter everywhere.
