The Alpha's Bride

Between sparring sessions, Damon was contacting Maya through the mind-link, reminding her to take Talia shopping, but Maya told him that Talia was sleeping and that she shouldn't be disturbed.

'Talia is sleeping. Considering her wounds, it's important that she rests. We can shop tomorrow.', Maya tried to reason with Damon.

'No. Do it today.', Damon was not relenting.

The truth is that he felt guilty.

He knew that Talia left because of the incident in the kitchen, and he thought that if Maya takes her shopping, Talia will feel better and not try to leave again.

The thought of Talia leaving was creating knots in his stomach.

She nearly escaped, and next time, he might not be so lucky to find her sleeping in the forest.

It was late afternoon when Damon finished training and returned to the packhouse.

His shorts was sticking to his body, and his bare chiseled chest and abs were glistening due to all the sweat and he was itching for a shower. 

Damon heard Maya's voice coming from the kitchen, so he took a detour, completely ignoring Cassie who was ogling at him.

"How did the shopping go?", Damon asked Maya, interrupting her talk with Omega who was stealing amorous glances at Damon. 

"We didn't go.", Maya responded.

Damon frowned and continued through the mind-link, 'I told you to go today.'

Maya was irked, but she knew better than to show it, so she plastered a smile. 'Talia would not enjoy it if I dragged her against her will.'

'Against her will?' Damon was confused. Every girl loves shopping.

'Talia doesn't want to leave her room and I don't blame her.'

Damon snorted and went to his room.

His steps halted in front of the door, and he went left instead of right.

Before opening the door, he listened carefully. Nothing.

He took a few sniffs and his anxiousness mixed with anger when he couldn't pick up Talia's scent.

Did she leave again?

Damon opened the door abruptly and froze at the sight of Talia who was sleeping on the bed, curled around the pillow.

A slow breath escaped his lips and he backtracked out of her room.

Before closing the door, his sight fell on the empty plate where bread, fruits, and cheese were. He left them there last night.

The fact that Talia ate the food he left, made him feel a bit better.

Damon went to his room and took a quick shower.

He returned to Talia's room, but this time, with another plate of food that had fruits and croissants and it was wrapped in plastic wrap so that pastry doesn't dry off.

Damon sat on the bed and reached to hold Talia's hand.

He really needed to touch her, the sparks confirmed that she is there and that she didn't leave.

He looked at her sleepy face and didn't move for a long time.

…

Cassie was irritated.

Dinner passed, and Damon didn't come down.

She saw him take a plate of food upstairs, the same how he did last night, and she knew that he took it to the third floor, but she assumed that it's for him, because she was not aware that someone else is on Alpha's floor (how Cassie calls it).

Only once Cassie made her way to the third floor, and Omegas told her that it's not allowed, but when she ignored them, Alpha Damon showed up and chased her away saying that only his Luna will get to climb there.

Well, isn't that her? It's only a matter of time, how Cassie sees it.

There are numerous she-wolves coveting Alpha Damon, but Cassie is the only one who can stay in his packhouse. Doesn't that make her special?

Cassie went to her room (on the second floor) and called her father.

"Daddy", she whined. "Alpha Damon is ignoring me again."

"What did you do, pumpkin?"

Cassie pouted while trying to think about what she did to offend him. "I really have no idea. Last night, I apologized and he was fine, but then he was not."

"Hmm…", Alpha Richard hummed. "Did something happen while he was fine?"

"We went together to get drinks in the kitchen, and there was a girl stealing food. I called her out and she left with that pesky Beta."

"What did Alpha Damon do?"

"He asked me if I think that his pack members need to steal food."

"And? Do you think they need to steal?"

"No, I don't. But that girl was sneaking in the dark. If she was not stealing, what else was she doing?"

"Sweetie, you are looking at this wrongly."

"Huh?" Cassie was confused.

"You want to be the Luna of the Dark Howlers pack, right?"

"Why are you always asking me that, daddy?", Cassie groaned.

"I'm reminding you why you are there.", Alpha Richard responded. "If you want to be his Luna, you should act like one."

"I don't get it.", Cassie admitted. "Alpha Damon prohibited me from calling myself his Luna."

"This is not about titles but about behavior, pumpkin. Luna is the mother of the pack. If her children are hungry, she will provide for them, and not call them out on stealing. You need to be compassionate and gentle. Show him that you can be a good Luna for his pack…"

Cassie listened intently.

She knew what her father was saying, but she didn't want to be the Luna in order to pamper others.

She is after the power and prestige which comes with that position. She dreams about standing proudly next to Damon.

Omegas should have their duties and their mealtimes, and that doesn't include eating from the packhouse because that is for high-ranking members. Any Omega in the packhouse is there to work, and not relax and have snacks.

But she knew that her father was right. No matter what her end goal is, she needs to put on a good façade. After she secures her spot, she can do whatever she wants.

…

Damon stayed in Talia's room until she started stirring.

He knew that she will wake up and he wanted to talk to her, to ask for an explanation.

Why did she go to the forest? Didn't he tell her to stay put?

Was she running away, or warning him that she can leave without him noticing?

A part of him feared the answers.

He didn't want to hurt her, but if Talia says that she wants to leave, Damon was not sure how he would react.

While she was missing, he was spiraling into insanity while anger and fear consumed him, and if she says that it was on purpose, he might snap.

And why did she refuse shopping? Was she punishing him by refusing him the chance to repent?

At that moment, Damon decided to leave.

They will talk tomorrow.

By then, he will cool off and the risk of him snapping will be significantly lowered.

But Talia didn't show up for breakfast, and she didn't show up for lunch either and he was back to being irritated.

What is her game? To starve herself?

Talia was either harming herself or defying him, or both, and neither of those sat well with him. With every passing minute, his impatience morphed into fury until he couldn't take it anymore.

Damon filled a plate with food and stormed toward the third floor.

What Damon didn't know was that Maya noticed how Talia was cooped up in her room, so besides bringing her food, Maya brought Talia a tablet and showed her how to go on the internet and browse. Talia spent quite some time reading news and looking at local maps to familiarize herself with the world and surroundings.

Talia shrunk when she heard someone rapidly slamming on her door.

She was sitting on the bed with a tablet in her hand, looking at the local map and figuring out nearby towns. It was nice and calm, and whoever was on the other side of that door made her anxious.

Is the house on fire? Or did Alpha Edward find out where she is and something horrible happened because of her?

The door swung open, and Talia's eyes widened when she saw Damon's dark expression. Did he come to punish her because she went into the forest without permission?

"Why are you not coming down to eat?", Damon asked grumpily. "Do you think this is a hotel, and we should serve you?"

Talia shook her head frantically, unsure why he was asking her that. Just the other night he stood and watched as she was being accused of stealing food. It seems that he changed his mind, and she was allowed to eat again.

"Doctor told you that you are underweight. Did you forget that you need to have regular meals? Or are you starving yourself on purpose? I didn't bring you here to have you hospitalized."

Talia realized that Damon was concerned about her weight. Did the kind doctor Travis call to check on her? Probably. Talia couldn't imagine that Damon would care about Talia's weight. Unless he was fattening her up so that he can eat her later.

Only then Talia noticed that Damon was holding onto a plate filled with food. Was that for her?

When she woke up last night, she found fruits and croissants, and that morning Maya brought her a nice sandwich and orange juice.

Talia was not hungry, and she didn't want to risk seeing Cassie or Damon again, so she decided to stay in the room and avoid trouble, yet the devil himself was at her door.

She was not sure what to think about Damon other than he was mentally unstable.

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