Next to the lake…
The event area was lively.
Guests started arriving hours in advance. There were a lot of people from the Dark Howlers pack and the Midnight Guardians pack (everyone was invited), and they were eager to help out. It made them feel important. Some even brought food and drinks with them because Damon and Talia said they don't need wedding presents, so the setting up of the venue turned into a pre-wedding party. The mood was good and the area was ready before the scheduled time.
Evanora was standing next to Edgar and observing the crowd gathered. Hundreds of people were standing or sitting in small groups and chatting over drinks and snacks.
Evanora was particularly interested in humans. They looked like werewolves and witches, but their spirits and bodies were weak, and their connection with nature was almost non-existent.
Evanora's interest in humans was not because they were powerless, but because she heard about humans using technology to better their lives. They had machines, weapons, and advances in medicine that alarmed her. Human lifespans were short in general, but they were large in numbers and inherently avaricious which made them dangerous.
Evanora was additionally repulsed while reading about their history. Humans hoarded treasures they didn't need without caring about overusing resources available or harming others in the process. They spoke about global warming and scaling down, yet everyone craved luxuries and self-indulging. Humans were contradictory enigmas and Evanora was unsure if she wanted to explore them or stay away from them.
Axel and Evanora went through the library of the Guardians, and they found evidence of experiments done on people with abilities. It all pointed toward humans as the culprits, but they didn't find more than that.
Declyn said that Guardians were collecting written material related to portals and other creatures for the purpose of preventing the information from leaking. If it reached human hands, it could be catastrophic. Of course, part of it was Gregory's greed and his desire to reopen the portals, but they had overlapping interests, so they collaborated.
In Declyn's words, "No one is considering humans as a threat because they are weak, however, that's playing to their advantage. Humans created devices that can block the pack link and suppress our abilities, and those are things we confirmed. By now, we are confident they know of other creatures, but the information is contained which tells us that people who are aware of our existence are in high positions."
Evanora was not sure if she should believe him. "Aren't you Guardians considering yourself as the most powerful creatures? How come you can't hunt down a few humans?"
Declyn shook his head. "It's not simple. Humans have a big imagination and are easy to deceive. It's difficult to distinguish if their stories came from a movie, a book, or because they actually know about us."
Gregory was interrogated on the topic, and he showed amazing resilience toward truth-telling potions that witches could make. If he knew anything about humans doing experiments on creatures with abilities, Gregory was unwilling to share.
Talia wanted to peer into Gregory's mind, but Damon was against it. This was not just any guardian, but Gregory. His ability was to interfere with other person's senses. They had no way to confirm if Gregory was completely stripped from his abilities, or if something was still lingering. If Talia went into his mind, he could trap her in there forever. It was not worth the risk.
Evanora found the whole situation unsettling. How are they supposed to protect themselves if they were forbidden from using their magic? If not for Edgar, Evanora would go back to the Coven a long time ago. She would also take with her all witches, and they would close the portal behind them.
Unfortunately, with every passing day, leaving was less probable for witches.
Within the first month of opening the portal, several dozens of witches found their soulmates among werewolves who came to patrol the area. Almost every day at least one newly mated couple was announced, and Evanora knew that it would be unfair to try separating them. If it were a few couples, she could convince them to come together, but with such a big number, it was a daunting task. Edgar assured her that he will work with her on protecting witches and other creatures from humans, and Evanora softened her stance. It was hard to say no to Edgar.
In one of the tents where the bridal party was preparing…
Valerian was sitting on a chair while Cassandra combed his hair.
He didn't like other people touching him, and Cassandra was careful not to get too close.
Since he arrived at the Dark Howlers pack, Valerian spent a lot of time in the garden, alone. Talia had a lot of things to deal with, so she asked Cassandra to accompany Valerian.
The Oracle was the only one from the Midnight Guardians pack present, she didn't have any particular duties assigned, and she knew Valerian before he disappeared.
Cassandra quickly learned about his schedule. While Valerian was attending physical therapy, she was with witches, learning about magic, spells, potions, and controlling energies. Valerian would have lunch with Damon and Talia, and somewhere mid-afternoon Cassandra would join him in the garden.
There were days when they just sat in silence, and Cassandra tried to diminish her presence while Valerian was lost in thoughts.
Part of her felt guilty because she didn't have a premonition that would prevent him from being imprisoned by the Guardians. It was her duty to keep the Midnight Guardians safe, and she wondered why the Moon Goddess didn't interfere with Sophia and Isaac becoming Alphas.
Most of the time, Cassandra would tell Valerian stories about the Midnight Guardians pack and things that happened in his absence.
Valerian was surprised to hear that his parents went after him and didn't return. He didn't know that.
Valerian was deeply interested to hear about Sophia and Isaac and what they did while he was gone.
He didn't blame Cassandra for the prophecy that caused Talia to be abandoned. After all, it was just a vague divination that predicted Talia's immense powers. The guilty ones were Sophia and Isaac who choose to label Talia as a bringer of calamity and kick her out while pretending that she didn't exist.
Valerian couldn't decide how to punish his sister and brother-in-law for what they did. Killing them sounded easy and punishing them… no punishment will give Talia back what she lost.
He was outraged to hear that Axel got the care and special treatment that was supposed to belong to his daughter.
Valerian told himself not to hate Axel. It was not Axel's fault. But it was hard to separate Axel from the injustice Talia grew up with. She didn't know who her parents were, she didn't know how special she was. Instead, she was hiding and fighting to survive. Valerian used all of his control not to blow up at innocent people, and he blamed himself because none of those would happen if he didn't make the mistake of leaving Talia there.
"Done," Cassandra announced and took a step back.
Valerian raised his gaze in slow motion to remind himself where he was. Wedding. Tent. He accepted to hold Talia's hand and walk with her down the aisle. It was a big honor and he was unsure if he deserved it, but he knew it meant a lot to Talia, so he accepted.
"Who all is here from our pack?"
Cassandra cleared her throat before responding, "Alpha Axel, Luna Yasmin," she paused when Valerian frowned. Sure, Axel was Talia's proxy, but everyone addressed him as Alpha, and Yasmin became Luna officially since she joined the pack. Yasmin didn't have a mental connection to the pack, and she couldn't transform into wolf form, but everything else about her was Luna-like.
Talia didn't mind that Axel and Yasmin were addressed as Alpha and Luna. Actually, she offered more than once for Axel to take over as the Alpha officially, but he refused. No amount of convincing from Talia would make him forget Valerian's gaze which was full of disappointment and anger, and there was something lethal that told Axel he shouldn't make waves.
"Who else is here?" Valerian grumbled.
Cassandra smiled awkwardly. Did he want her to say everyone's names? Almost everyone from the Midnight Guardians pack was here! Some had pups at home, and some stayed for security, but whoever was able, came to attend this massive ceremony. But Valerian wanted names, so she started from the top of the hierarchy.
"Beta Meg and Beta Kai, Gamma Sandy and Gamma Tyler, Calla, Remi…"
"Is Natalia here?" Valerian interrupted her.
"Not yet," Cassandra responded right away.
Cassandra wondered, did Damon and Talia elope? Cassandra heard that's a thing with humans, and since they decided on this human ceremony, maybe they eloped as well.
In the tent for the bride's side of the ceremony, other than Valerian and Cassandra, there were other females in black and white sparkly dresses, surrounded by Omegas who were doing the final touches on hair and makeup.
"Do you think they will come on time?" Kalina asked Tatiana while glancing at the time nervously.
Tatiana gritted her teeth in annoyance. This was an event of the century that featured her designs, and Damon and Talia will ruin it because they had to get frisky.
They all heard noises from the other room in the packhouse, and they knew what was going on there. Tatiana was on verge of banging at the door, but Maddox pulled her back saying that Damon and Talia will not miss their own ceremony.
Now that they were minutes away from start, Tatiana regretted listening to Maddox.
The only one who understood Tatiana's grief was Mindy. As the main organizer, Mindy put countless hours into making sure they had enough space, food, and entertainment, that the colors were matching. And Damon and Talia were not here! This was a disaster!
