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Talia was with a bunch of guys around her, they were taking turns in kneeling and kissing her hand, and Damon felt like someone was wrenching the heart out of his chest. It was the most painful thing Damon experienced in his life and he thought that he is going to lose his mind.

\'I told you that Talia is fine.\', Maya\'s voice sounded in Damon\'s head, and Damon\'s insides tied into knots as he was suppressing his impulse to go on a rampage.

\'You call that fine!?\', Damon snapped at Maya through the mind-link. \'What\'s going on there!?\'

\'I know as much as you do.\', Maya responded honestly.

Damon\'s wolf was non-responsive, and Damon never felt this lonely. With Talia by his side, Damon was at peace and the fact that Talia was enjoying with someone other than him was infuriating and numbing at the same time, making him feel dead inside. He didn\'t want to lose her.

Damon\'s jaw tightened as he chanted internally that it\'s NOT a good idea to jump there and snatch Talia away in front of all that audience.

\'Go there and tell them to stop!\', Damon told Maya through the mind-link.

Maya rolled her eyes. \'You are kidding, right? How can I do that without causing a scene? Besides, you told me to make sure Talia has fun at the festival. It seems to me that she is having a blast.\'

\'A BLAST!?\', Damon fumed.

How the hell can his mate enjoy without him around? And Talia was surrounded by a bunch of scarcely dressed sweaty men!

That\'s his mate, damn it!

\'BAM!\'

Damon punched the table with refreshments, snapping it in two.

Plates and glasses shattered, covering the ground with a mess of glass, beverages, and snacks.

"Alpha, can we talk?", Caden waved at Damon to step outside the lounge.

"I apologize, it was an accident…", Maya was quick to do damage control while mind-linking Omegas to clean up and bring another batch of refreshments to people who looked at Damon in confusion.

Most of the Alphas have unpredictable tempers, and Damon has a bad reputation, so no one dared to comment on Damon\'s outburst. Not for him to hear, at least.

…

"What was that?", Caden asked Damon when they stepped out of the earshot of guests.

Damon shoved his hand into his hair angrily. "I snapped."

"I can see that. But I don\'t understand why."

Of course, Caden knew why Damon blew a fuse, but he wanted Damon to admit it.

Seeing that Damon was not responding, Caden tried a different approach. "I know you for a long time and I can see that something is weighing on you. I would like to help, but unless you open up, I will probably do more damage."

Damon shook his head, refusing to share his thoughts. "It\'s nothing."

"Fine. Don\'t tell me.", Caden said dryly. "But if you keep breaking furniture in front of all those guests, other than rogues, spies, and Elders pushing women to be your brides, you will need to deal with others proclaiming you as mentally unstable."

Damon frowned. Since when was his mental stability in question? "They wouldn\'t dare."

Caden shrugged. "A few years ago, you said that they wouldn\'t dare to force marriage on you, yet look at you now. As much as you don\'t want to admit, they are wining and it\'s only a matter of time before they force you to pick a Luna. Maybe you should accept Marcy."

"NO!", Damon roared. "What the hell are you saying?"

The idea of being with Marcy gave him goosebumps. Any woman other than Talia was out of the question.

Caden lifted his hands defensively. "Let\'s not talk about Marcy now. Alpha Maddox came with Mindy. What about her?"

"What\'s wrong with you? Why are you talking about random women?"

Caden shrugged. "I\'m just reminding you of your options. There is also Cassie, Jade, Leah, Stella, Betty, and if you give me a minute, I can get you a much longer list of willing candidates. They are all decent-looking with some good and some bad sides. As long as you focus on the positives, any of them will work. Maybe you should prioritize them based on their skills in bed. There are so many of them willing to serve you. Just pick one. That shouldn\'t be difficult…"

"STOP!", Damon angrily interrupted Caden\'s chatter. "Why are you talking like I want to get married?"

"Sorry, were we supposed to talk about something else?", Caden asked innocently. "Oh, right. You broke the table and made a mess. What was that about?"

Damon didn\'t want to say that his temper flared because some guys are buzzing around Talia. He really didn\'t want to say that. But the scene from the field was still flashing in front of his eyes and it was driving him mad, and he was not sure if he can go through this without making serious damage. He needed help.

Caden is his best friend, his Beta. Caden always had his back so… Damon inhaled forcibly and inched closer to Caden.

"It\'s Talia…", Damon said in a small voice, and he glanced around to ensure no one can overhear him before adding, "She is… my mate."

Damon\'s voice was barely audible, but Caden heard him clearly.

Damon looked at Caden apprehensively. Why was there no reaction?

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes. Good hearing is one of my strong sides.", Caden responded matter-of-factly.

"And you are not surprised?"

Caden shook his head. "The only thing I\'m surprised about is why it took you so long to come clean."

"You knew?"

"Only a fool wouldn\'t figure it out.", Caden said proudly. "I remember that we were all rubbing it off on the Playboy magazine, and you bedded dozens of girls by then. I hated you because you never cared for girls, yet they were still swarming around you and..."

"How is that important?", Damon interrupted Caden.

"I\'m getting to the point.", Caden responded.

"Get to it faster."

"I had to give it to you, you were consistent and predictable, and that changed when we went to the Red Moon pack. You changed. You smuggled a random girl in the trunk, held her in the back seat of the car while she was sleeping, gave her your old bedroom, you are coming up with random excuses to ditch work and accompany her, you are even cutting food for her like her hands are not working for anything other than holding your hand under the table. Should I keep going?"

Damon realized that he was not sneaky enough. And if Caden figured it out that means, "Maya also knows?"

Caden\'s lips lifted into a smile.

Damon let out a long breath. That explains Maya\'s strange behavior when something is related to Talia.

Since this was out of the way, Damon wanted to mention one more thing. "Max told me that Alpha Richard is willing to pay for any information related to Talia."

"Does he know that Talia is…?"

"No.", Damon interrupted Caden before he could say the \'mate\' word. "I didn\'t tell anyone, until now."

"No one knows? What about Talia?"

Damon\'s face fell. "Without her wolf, she doesn\'t feel the bond."

"Why didn\'t you tell her?"

"Don\'t you see her? She is scared of everything. If I tell her, she will freak out."

Maya had a theory that Damon is concealing the fact that Talia is his mate because he believes Talia is weak. Damon\'s words confirmed that Maya was right. Caden smiled. Maya is always right.

"I see her, Damon. Talia is down there, having our whole soccer team on their knees."

Damon growled. Did Caden need to bring that up?

Before Damon snapped at him, Caden asked, "So, how long will you keep this from Talia?"

Damon didn\'t have a plan. "I don\'t know."

"I think that Talia is stronger than you think.", Caden said. "She needs to know, Damon. You don\'t like that she is close to other guys, but you didn\'t give her a reason to stay away from them. You know how Talia lived before coming here. She will want to try everything. Watching a game, eating, drinking, dancing, dating. Do you want her to go out with someone else?"

Damon\'s insides twisted. Talia with someone else? Over his dead body! But... "Max said that I should stay away from her because many people are watching. I don\'t know if I can do that. I feel like ripping the head off from any guy who dares to get close to her."

"I agree with Alpha Maddox.", Caden said. "You should stay away from Talia and watch how much she has grown since she came here. Actually, I think that this is who she was all along, but now she is coming out of her shell."

Damon was confused. "Should I stay away from her or stick close so that she doesn\'t go out with someone else?"

"Are you ready to announce that she is our Luna?"

Damon\'s brows furrowed and that was the answer to Caden\'s question.

"Until you are ready for everyone to know, you should stay away from her. But don\'t take too long. If she doesn\'t feel the bond, she might pick someone else."

Damon knew that Caden was right. He didn\'t want to put Talia in danger, but what if he waits too long and loses her?

His mind was in turmoil. What should he do?

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