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"Miss Talia…", a deep voice called the moment Talia reached the hallway on the main floor and Talia saw Axel looking at her.

"I saw you last night, and I took the liberty of asking for your name from Beta Maya even though I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. My name is Axel, and I am visiting from the Midnight Guardians pack. May I have a word with you?"

Talia blinked. This was Axel, the future Alpha of the mysterious Midnight Guardians pack. Talia knew that because Dawn couldn't stop talking about him and Dawn said that he barely spared her a glance no matter how much she tried to get close to him while setting the dishes on the table last night, yet here he was, asking Talia for a chat, and he called her 'Miss Talia', like she is someone important. Talia liked that.

Talia glanced left and right to confirm if there is anyone else in sight, but there was none.. Just the two of them. "How can I help you?"

"In private, please."

Talia blinked. Private? Other than her room (or his), Talia didn't know about any other private place, and being alone in the room with a stranger didn't seem appropriate. "How about the garden?"

Axel nodded in agreement, and he smiled a little. "Lead the way, Miss Talia."

There it was, the 'Miss Talia' again.

"Are you alright?", Axel asked when they stepped into the garden.

She looked at him questionably and he explained, "The way you move, it's different compared to last night. Did you get hurt?"

Talia was embarrassed to disclose that her body feels like she is about to fall apart after half an hour of exercising. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

She stopped walking and glanced around. "I believe this is private enough." They were not really far from the packhouse, but she didn't want to go too far away because she had no idea why would someone like Axel want privacy with her.

Axel saw that Talia was uncomfortable and he gestured to the nearby bench. "How about we sit?"

Talia welcomed the sitting offer because her legs were killing her. If Axel didn't stop her in the hallway, by now she would be in the kitchen, preferably seated and helping with breakfast preparations.

They sat on the bench, facing each other and the silence stretched between them.

After some time, Talia cleared her throat. "I don't want to appear rude, but I need to head to the kitchen in order to prepare breakfast so…"

Axel understood her point. He knew what he wanted to say, but he was trying to find the right words so that he doesn't appear like a creep.

Eventually, he spoke, "Miss Talia, what can you tell me about yourself?"

Talia paused. "What?"

"Are you born in the Dark Howlers pack? What about your parents?"

Talia swallowed hard. Why was he asking about her background? Is Axel asking on behalf of Marcy and Alpha Edward? Was she in trouble? Did she bring trouble for Alpha Damon?

She told herself to calm down. Maya prepared the coverup story and if Talia just blurts out the truth, she will probably mess it up big time.

"I don't know who my parents are. I grew up with my grandparents up in the North, and after they passed I headed South with the hope to find a pack to settle. I have no idea how long I was wandering but I bumped into Beta Maya and Beta Caden, and they offered me to come here."

"How old were you at that time?"

"That happened about two weeks ago.", Talia admitted. Ten days ago, to be precise.

"Your grandparents didn't speak about your parents?"

Talia's mind worked a million thoughts a second. "My parents were killed by rogues when I was a baby. They were together for less than a year before they perished, so there was not much to tell."

Axel could see that Talia was not comfortable. "I apologize for asking personal questions."

"It's not a problem. It happened a long time ago." This part was the truth. A long time ago Talia accepted that she doesn't have parents or a loving family. She was anxious about another thing… "Why are you curious about my background?"

"When I saw you last night, you reminded me of someone.", Axel responded right away. "Let me ask you one more question. Are you happy here?"

Talia opened her mouth to respond, but a low voice came from behind her, "Are you trying to poach my people, Axel?"

Talia whipped her head in the direction of the newcomer, and she saw Damon walking toward them while his glare didn't leave Axel. It was obvious that Damon was angry.

Damon ended his talk with Alpha Maddox and then Maddox stood by the window and said, "It seems that your girl is attracting attention…" And that's how Damon saw Axel and Talia sitting on the bench in the garden, and Damon hurried to see what the heck was going on.

Damon reached in time to hear Axel's cheesy line how Talia reminds him of someone and asking Talia if she is happy. What was that supposed to mean? Was he trying to pick her up? Isn't Axel supposed to live as a celibate until he finds his mate? And Talia was obviously NOT Axel's mate because each person can have only one mate and even if Talia can't feel who her mate is, her mate is Damon! What was Axel trying to do?

Axel smirked. "I was only asking the lady if she is happy here."

Talia sucked in a sharp breath. First, 'Miss Talia', and now, 'lady'.

Why would Axel, the future Alpha, treat her with such respect? Maybe that was normal for him, but for Talia it was new, and she liked it. After a second of soaking in this new way of addressing her, Talia became cautious. What if Axel is nice because he wants to trick her?

By now, Damon was standing next to Talia.

"Is she happy? Of course, she is happy.", Damon grumbled while pulling Talia to stand up from the bench and pushing her roughly to stand behind him.

"She doesn't look happy to me.", Axel said.

Damon's frown deepened. "What does that mean?"

"She is obviously hurt."

Damon turned to look at Talia. "You are hurt?"

Talia was quick to deny it. "No, no. I'm not." Why was Axel getting her in trouble with this Devil?

"Talia is so scared of you that she won't say it openly.", Axel said. "Last night she was fine, yet today she is barely walking."

Damon's face fell. How he saw it, there was only one reason why she would be hurt so bad that she can't walk properly.

"I'm sorry Talia. I didn't mean to spank you that hard."

Talia's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets from shock. Did she hear him right?

"I know it's none of my business what you do in the bedroom, but you can't be so rough with your women.", Axel said, and his grimace showed how disgusted he was with Damon's behavior.

"I'm not his woman!", Talia squeaked. If Miss Mindy or someone else heard this, Talia was sure that her head would be detached from the rest of her body, soon.

Damon glared at Axel. "It's not what you think."

"And what am I thinking?"

Damon wanted to say how it was none of Axel's business, and even if Axel's insinuation was correct, it wouldn't be a big deal because werewolves talk about sex openly. But Axel was different and he was making it sound like Damon was using Talia for some twisted activities, so Damon had to explain. "I was carrying Talia, and she was moving too much. I spanked her so that she stops squirming."

"Why didn't you keep her down or ask her to stop moving?"

"I was in a hurry.", Damon said.

"And when you are in a hurry, you hit women?"

Damon's irritation swelled. "Don't twist my words. That's not what I said."

"That's exactly what you said…"

Talia listened to this bickering with her mouth half-open. How come she doesn't remember any of it? Was Damon making this up? Or did he spank her… Wait! That would explain her butt-ache.

Talia inhaled forcibly. "Please, can you stop talking about it?"

Both Damon and Axel turned to look at her and she continued, "I am fine. Can you just forget about this? I need to go and prepare breakfast."

Talia took a step back and in a moment, Axel was next to her, holding her hand in his.

"Miss Talia, please, don't make life-changing decisions rashly. I want you to know that you have options. You can always find a refuge in the Midnight Guardians pack." Axel paused and reached for the pocket of his pants before handing her a business card. "Here is my personal number."

Damon saw red. He shoved Axel away from Talia before standing between the duo with Talia behind him.

"Axel, you are here as a guest. How dare you suggest that Talia leaves me when I'm right here?"

"Would you rather I do it behind your back?", Axel asked without flinching under Damon's pressure. "How I see it, Miss Talia is not having an easy time here. Unlike you, I'm not trying to force her into anything. I don't think that a lady like her should settle with belief that this is as good as it gets. If you want her to stay with you, you should treat her well."

Talia's mind was spinning. She didn't understand what was going on, but she had an urgency to leave. "I'm going to the kitchen."

"Miss Talia!", Axel called after her. "Call me anytime. We can stay in touch even if you are happy here…"

Talia gritted her teeth to suppress the ache in her legs while speeding up toward the kitchen. What the hell was going on?

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