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Ever since the incident with Cassie, Talia didn\'t find a moment to collect her thoughts.

First, it was Stephanie, then Maya, and now Damon, and Talia didn\'t get a chance to think about what happened and what she will do about it. Well, she knew that she should leave the packhouse, but the question was: how far away should she flee?

There must be some safe distance from Damon and the bullies.

Damon was amused by Talia\'s newfound spunk. She seemed determined to stay away from him, but he had no intention of leaving her side.

He chased Cassie away, and that must count for something.

"You can\'t sleep like this?", Damon asked.

"No. Not really.", Talia said and moved her arm.

The sleeve of Talia\'s t-shirt hitched higher, and Damon narrowed his eyes when he saw a fresh bruise on Talia\'s upper arm.

Damon pushed himself up and examined the bruise. It was a palm print with five fingers seen clearly. He didn\'t need to ask how that happened.

He gritted his teeth as rage swelled inside him. If Cassie was anywhere nearby, he would snap her neck.

Damon was not sure how to handle the whirlwind of emotions that swelled inside him. Anger, dejection, guilt, but somehow it was all soothed by the sweet citrusy scent of freesia and those delightful sparks that formed as he held Talia\'s arm, and the only thing he wanted was to get closer to the gorgeous girl who was looking at him with her big, honeyed eyes.

Talia thought that since Damon got into a seated position, he will finally leave so that she can have space to breathe without his proximity muddling her mind, but in the next moment, Damon was under the comforter, and she was in his embrace.

"What are you doing?", Talia asked while struggling to push herself away from him.

Everywhere Talia touched was hard, and she knew that unless he lets go, she will never free herself, but she still tried.

"Shh…", Damon shushed Talia and pressed her head to rest on his shoulder. "You said that you can\'t sleep when we hold hands, and I know that you like to sleep like this, so… sleep."

Talia couldn\'t believe this. Who said that she likes sleeping like that? This was worse than holding hands! She could feel him everywhere! Well, not really everywhere but the touching surface was much more than just hands.

"Talia…", Damon called, and she stopped her futile attempts to wiggle out of his hold.

Talia was exasperated. The bossy Alpha wanted to cuddle, and he was pinning her against him, just like when he found her in the attic, and the next day in the car and in the hotel room, and she already knew that she can\'t win. But he wanted to say something, so maybe he will let her go if she hears him out.

"I am sorry for what happened this afternoon. Cassie had no right to talk smack, and she had no right to hit you. I feel responsible for it and if there is anything I can do to make it up to you, just say it. My soul is aching at the thought that you got hurt on my watch, so… let me hold you. Please. It will make me feel better."

Talia was ready to hear many things, but she was not expecting an apology. Do Alphas apologize?

The sincerity in his voice rendered Talia speechless. He was truly sorry that she got hurt.

But the strangest thing was that Talia got bullied, yet it sounded like Damon was the one who needed comforting.

Talia didn\'t understand why, but for some inexplicable reason, she believed him. Maybe it was because she wanted to believe that he cares and that he was sorry.

Talia knew that by tomorrow all that might change and Damon will go back to ignoring her, but at that moment, being next to Damon felt good and she didn\'t want to fight it.

Her thoughts of leaving the packhouse didn\'t disappear, but she pushed them aside for now because people treating her well was a rare occurrence and Talia wanted to enjoy every second of it.

Damon was pleased to feel Talia relaxing against him.

There was no skin-to-skin contact, but even through clothes, the sensation of Talia\'s proximity was out of this world.

Damon rolled on the side, to face Talia fully and he held her tightly against him with his nose resting at the top of her head as he inhaled the sweet citrusy scent of freesia that made him lightheaded.

Ever since their nap in the hotel when they shared the bed, Damon was itching to sleep with Talia in his arms and he was delighted that it was finally happening.

Talia was his drug, his addiction, everything about her was perfectly made for him, and the fact that her left arm was draped over his waist, improved the experience by several folds.

Damon chanted internally that it\'s just a hug, sleeping next to each other, and he will not do more than that, but his body had a mind of his own. He was thankful that due to the angle of their hips, Talia was unaware of how hard he was.

Damon knew that Talia was inexperienced and because she was oblivious to the fact that they are mates, if he makes a move on her, he will appear like a creep. He will take it slow. How far? He was not sure and he tried not to think about it.

"Damon?", Talia called, and he smiled because her voice was soft, and she didn\'t use his title.

"Yes?"

"You have women warriors in your pack, right?"

"OUR pack.", he corrected her. "And yes, we do."

"Can I train? I want to get stronger and maybe learn some moves to defend myself."

Damon didn\'t like the idea of Talia fighting, but he admired her desire to learn and improve.

"When Travis says that your physical condition is fine, we can start."

"I have an appointment with him at ten in the morning, so I will ask him then."

"I will go with you."

"Thank you. For everything." She really meant it. For punishing Cassie and for bringing her dinner, for saying that she can train, and even though she was not fully comfortable with him in the bed, Talia couldn\'t deny that if Damon didn\'t stay with her, she would think about Cassie and that slap and continue her plans about getting out of there.

"You are most welcome."

A pleasant silence blanketed the room.

Talia shifted a bit and Damon rolled on his back so that Talia\'s head ended on his chest, and she was surprised that their position didn\'t feel awkward.

She thought about the day that started with Talia waking up on Damon\'s hand as a pillow, and everything that happened after that, and it was undeniable that this day was the most eventful ever. Other than the unpleasant few minutes with Cassie, it was overall positive.

"Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you plan on sleeping here?", she had to ask.

"Is that a problem?"

"Uhm…", she was not sure how can he act like this was normal. "You have your bed and…"

"Is something wrong with your bed?"

\'There is nothing wrong with it, other than the fact that you are in it!\', Talia didn\'t dare say that aloud.

"I\'m sure that yours is bigger." She didn\'t peek inside the room across the hall, but she knew the size of the beds for Alpha, Luna, and their children in the Red Moon pack, and they were definitely bigger than this one.

Damon hummed ambiguously. "So, you think that this bed is small?"

"No, no, no…", Talia quickly said. "It\'s just that this bed is for one person. Aren\'t you more comfortable in your bed?"

"Well...", Damon drawled. "Technically, this IS my bed. In my personal opinion, this bed is just fine for the two of us.", Damon said and tightened his hold on Talia. It was a queen-size bed and he wished that it\'s smaller so that they can squeeze closer, if possible. "But I see your point. I will order a bigger one tomorrow."

"No, no. Please, don\'t."

"Is this bed small or not? Make up your mind.", Damon said with amusement in his voice.

Talia let out a long breath. "Forget that I said anything."

Damon chuckled and Talia felt his face pressing at the top of her head. Did he just kiss her there? She was not sure, and she didn\'t dare to ask.

Damon\'s hot breath caressed Talia\'s scalp and the unfamiliar sensation created butterflies in her stomach.

Talia was still undecided if coming to the Dark Howlers pack was a good thing or not, but she knew that spending time with Damon was anything other than boring.

Talia listened to his steady heartbeat and the slow rise and fall of his chest was lulling her to sleep.

Damon\'s hold was solid, and it made Talia feel safe like nothing bad can reach her, urging her to relax and drop her guard. For tonight, at least.

Damon\'s warmth enveloped her, and his scent of the forest and dark chocolate was soothing, and without knowing how or when, Talia drifted off to sleep.

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