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Maya pushed the wheelchair with Talia on it, and Doctor Travis opened the door that was guarded by two warriors.

Caden stood up from the sofa when he saw the trio entering and he asked Talia how she was doing, but she didn\'t hear him because her whole world was reduced to Damon who was lying on the bed with bandages covering his body and various machines attached to him.

Talia couldn\'t accept that the most handsome man in the world who would smile at her, tease her, and make her days better was now unmoving and it was all her fault.

Damon did so much for her, yet she ended up disobeying him and going into the forest. He told her to stay safe. He told her that there are rogues and that it\'s dangerous. She didn\'t take him seriously and because of that, he was hurt.

Talia vividly remembered the knife in his stomach and the whimper when the bullet hit him, yet he still glared at the evildoers with an unwavering gaze.

Will he forgive her? Will she forgive herself?

The sound of the door closing pulled Talia out of her daze, and she asked, "Can you tell me now about his condition?"

"Two stab wounds and he was shot three times.", Doctor Travis said. "The blades and bullets were laced with wolfsbane. Luckily, none of the wounds was fatal, but he lost a lot of blood. I flushed the wolfsbane out of his system and his condition is stable."

Talia didn\'t feel better when Travis said that Damon\'s condition was stable. "When should he wake up?"

Travis let out a long exhale. "I don\'t know. His healing is unusually slow, probably due to the wolfsbane."

Talia couldn\'t accept this. Damon was lying on the bed, most of his body was covered in bandages, he was pale, and Talia\'s heart was heavy.

The only thing that could make it better would be if he opens his eyes and smiles and tells her that everything will be alright.

"Is there something we can do?", Talia asked without removing her gaze from Damon.

"In this situation…" Travis paused. "The only thing we can do is wait."

Travis saw that Talia\'s expression fell and he put his hand on her shoulder. "Alpha Damon is strong. If anyone can pull through this, it\'s him."

Maya and Caden exchanged gazes and Caden nodded in understanding. They didn\'t need the mind-link to know what the other one was thinking.

"Doctor Travis…", Caden called. "Can we have a word? In private."

Caden and Travis stepped outside, and Travis led the way to his office.

After making sure all windows and doors were closed and that no one was nearby to eavesdrop, Caden turned to Travis and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Healing is faster when mates are together."

Travis\'s brows came together when he understood the meaning behind Caden\'s words. "True, but Alpha Damon didn\'t find his mate."

"He did.", Caden said.

Travis stared at Caden, and Travis\'s eyes widened when he realized… "Talia. Why…?"

"She doesn\'t know.", Caden interrupted whatever Travis wanted to ask next. "With her wolf gone, she can\'t feel the bond. Considering her previous experiences, Damon wanted to win her trust before disclosing they are mates."

Travis nodded in understanding. "I assume that Maya knows also."

Caden confirmed. "Elder Samson and Elder Charlie know as well. With you, that makes six of us."

Travis realized that he just found out a big secret. "And you told me this because…" Travis waited for Caden to finish the thought.

"It\'s essential for Damon\'s benefit that Talia stays close to him. But you can\'t tell her they are mates."

"How will you make her stay close to him without explaining why?", Travis asked.

"Let me take care of that."

…

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...

In Damon\'s room…

"You are not allowed to blame yourself.", Maya told Talia who responded with a weak smile.

"Damon told me not to go there on my own, but I still did. If I didn\'t go to the forest, I wouldn\'t bump into rogues, and Damon wouldn\'t get hurt.", Talia said. "Or if I left with them obediently…"

"Stop that!", Maya exclaimed. "What are you saying? Damon saved you because he cares about you. No matter where you went, he would find you. If you went with rogues obediently, Damon would not stop until he found you, and that would be in their territory, and it would end up much worse than this. Besides, you wouldn\'t go to the forest if you knew rogues were there. And…" Maya paused. "Why were you in the forest? I thought that you were supposed to prepare rooms for guests."

Talia opened her mouth and then closed it. She didn\'t want to say that Lisa got her upset, and she needed some air.

"I finished early and thought of enjoying the forest a bit before going to study."

"So, you went for a walk?", Maya asked and when Talia nodded, Maya said, "That was quite a walk."

Talia guiltily avoided Maya\'s gaze. "I didn\'t realize how far I went."

Maya knew that Talia was hiding something, but since Talia didn\'t want to talk about it, Maya let it slide.

Caden and Travis returned, and Caden gave Maya a small nod before speaking in an official tone. "Alright. Our current plan is that Maya and I will return to the packhouse and deal with any work as usual. We don\'t want to alert people this happened. The official version is that Alpha Damon defeated four rogues. If anyone looks for him, we will say that he is in the pack hospital with Talia because she got hurt."

Caden turned to Talia. "Talia, you will stay here and watch over Damon. Doctor Travis will handpick nurses that will come here. They will bring you food and I will make sure that trustworthy guards are outside. Other than the four of us, no one will know the complete truth."

Talia had no objections and no questions. She didn\'t want to leave Damon\'s side, but there was one point, "What about the guests?"

Caden puffed his cheeks. "Let\'s worry about it later. They are due to come in two days, and hopefully, Damon will wake up soon and decide on these things. Our focus is to prevent information leak until Damon regains consciousness."

"Is there something related to guests that is still pending?", Maya asked Talia.

"We were supposed to buy small gifts for them.", Talia reminded Maya. "Rose and Kate are probably done with room cleanup by now. You need to verify that everything is ready."

"Don\'t worry about gifts.", Maya said. "I will tell Stephanie to check the rooms."

After exchanging a few more words, Maya and Caden left.

Doctor Travis looked at Talia with renewed interest.

Now that he knew Talia is Damon\'s mate, Travis also knew she is the future Luna, and he remembered how she suppressed him when he blocked her from seeing Damon.

What piqued his interest was that Talia was not marked. It meant that the aura she projected was hers only, and that aura was not weaker than Alpha\'s.

What is her background? He shook those thoughts away because being too nosy might get him in trouble.

Travis was rewinding all their previous interactions and mentally checking if he offended her. Hopefully not.

"Do you have any advice for me, Doctor Travis?", Talia asked when she realized that Travis was standing there and staring at her.

She wanted to approach Damon and hold his hand, but she feared that such intimacy won\'t be appropriate in front of Travis, and she couldn\'t wait for him to leave.

"Uhm… no. I will ask someone to bring you a meal soon. In the meantime, the closer you can get to Alpha, the better."

Talia\'s brows came together. "What do you mean?"

Travis couldn\'t tell her that he knows they are mates, and he didn\'t want to say that he saw photos in the WW Magazine of Talia and Damon kissing and dancing, so he decided to throw Betas under the bus.

"Caden told me about your relationship with Alpha Damon.", Travis gave Talia a meaningful look.

Seeing that Talia only stared at him while blushing, Travis cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I didn\'t mean to make you uncomfortable." Who was he kidding? He was the uncomfortable one. "I only wanted to say that you don\'t need to hold back. Alpha Damon is an Alpha and it would be good for him to feel that someone is by his side. The closer the better. The best would be if you can lay by next to him, the bed is wide enough. Just be mindful of his injuries." Talia was still not moving, and Travis took a step back. "Aright, I will leave you to it. Don\'t leave his side. Food will be here soon and if you need anything else, just push the buzzer."

And with that, Travis left the room while walking backward.

Talia had no idea how to react to Travis\'s remarks, but then, it didn\'t matter. By now, everyone saw the magazine that showed photos of them dancing and kissing, and considering Damon\'s reputation, it would be strange not to assume they are intimate. And they wouldn\'t be wrong.

Talia\'s gaze moved to Damon and all the unnecessary thoughts vanished.

It was just Talia and Damon, and Damon was hurt and unconscious. And she really wanted him to wake up. Right now.

Even without Travis\'s advice to get close to Damon, she would do that. OK, she probably wouldn\'t climb into Damon\'s hospital bed, but she would hold his hand. Definitely.

Talia pushed the wheelchair closer until it touched the edge of the bed and she slowly reached to hold Damon\'s hand.

The initial contact sent sparks through her fingers and Talia jerked her hand back.

What was that?