The Alpha's Bride

1046  A crisis

"Kitten… Kitten," Damon called while nudging Talia.

"Mmm?" She mumbled drowsily while snuggling close to him.

Her arms snaked around his naked torso and she buried her face into his chest to take a deep breath of his cent. Dark chocolate and the forest. Her favorites.

Damon could feel that Talia was content, and he didn't want to disturb her rest, but he had to.

"Kitten? Sorry to wake you like this, but we have a crisis."

A pang of anxiety coursed through Talia. A crisis? Was it another spotting of the hybrids and their warriors were dying? But she didn't pick up any alerts. Actually, things were peaceful. "What is it?"

"Vi is not home yet."

Talia groaned. How was that a crisis?

Liseli snickered in Talia's mind. 'Busted! I told you this will happen. Your mate won't like that you kept this from him.'

Talia tuned out her wolf. It was like Liseli enjoyed whenever Damon's feathers were ruffled.

Talia wondered what time it was. She didn't hear the noise that was normal for daytime.

Talia opened her right eye a bit to see that the dawn was cracking outside. She knew that Damon would notice Violet's absence, but she hoped the kids will have more time for themselves before Damon interrupts them with his wrath.

"Why are you not sleeping? Vi is a grownup, Damon. She might be hanging out with friends. It wouldn't be the first time." She hoped this will pacify her handsome demon.

Damon huffed. "Vi left the pack run early. She is not in our territory and her closest friends were seen at the campfires after the run. What if something happened? What if she was kidnapped?"

"Vi has our genes, Damon. I taught her how to be careful, and you taught her how to fight. If anyone tried to kidnap Vi, I would be more worried about them. Vi can take care of herself."

Damon couldn't believe this. "Aren't you worried?"

"No, not really."

"What if the hybrids got her? What if humans are experimenting on her as we speak? What if she is suffering while we are relaxing and thinking her powers are enough? No matter how powerful she is, Vi is not aware of how vile people can be and what greed will make them do. She is naïve just as you!"

Talia pouted. "I am not naïve."

Damon shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean that. What I wanted to say was that you always believe people will be good. How many times have I got in trouble while rescuing you because you trusted others?"

Before Talia could respond, Damon pried her arms away from him, pushed himself off the bed, and grabbed his jeans.

Talia's eyes snapped open as she was wide awake now. "What are you doing?"

"I will wake up the boys and alert the guards of allied territories. We don't want to cause panic, but everyone with an ability should start looking." Damon was buttoning up his pants and he already had a plan ready. "Witches will help us track her down with a spell and we will start a rescue mission. I will call Cornelia and Amelia. Lavender will show us the exact place where she parted with Vi and we will…"

Talia couldn't believe this. Did he really want to bring a mass of warriors and witches to Violet when the unsuspecting girl was spending the first night with her mate?

"Damon, calm down."

He jabbed his hand into his hair. "Calm down? Calm down!? Do you think I'm overreacting? The only thing odd here is that you can sleep peacefully while our only daughter is enduring who knows what by who knows whom!"

Feeling violence oozing from Damon, Talia called to her wolf. 'Lis, I need your help.'

'Deal with that man-child yourself,' Liseli scoffed.

'I'm sure you can do something. Ask Sapa to calm Damon's emotions.'

Sapa and Liseli had their own mental connection, and they could communicate without Damon and Talia knowing about it.

Liseli snorted. 'Sure, rely on my mate when yours goes unhinged.'

'Lis, please. This is for Vi.'

'I can try.'

Talia looked at Damon while trying to project calmness. "Violet is not in trouble."

Damon snapped to look at her suspiciously. "How do you know?" A moment later, he narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you know that you are not telling me, Natalia?"

Talia blinked. He used her full name, and that meant he was serious.

She looked at her handsome mate who was wearing jeans, and his chiseled torso was fully exposed, making her throat dry. But this was not the time to get frisky because Damon was angry and there was a chance he would be angrier when he confirmed that his precious daughter found her mate.

Talia bit her lower lip. How much should she tell him? It was not something that could be hidden for long.

She patted the mattress. "Come here, Damon. We need to talk."

He cocked an eyebrow at her and hesitated for a second before obeying.

"I'm here. Talk," Damon said dryly when he sat on the bed.

Talia realized this was beyond serious when she noticed streaks of black twirling in Damon's 15:03

normally icy-blue eyes.

"You know that Vi is not a child anymore," Talia said. "We talked about this. Her eighteenth birthday passed, and it was only a matter of time before…" Her voice trailed when Damon's brows came together. She never saw him frown that much.

His eyes moved left, right, and then he jumped off the bed like he was burned.

"Are you saying… Vi found…" Damon shook his head violently as if that would disperse dark thoughts.

Damon was standing next to the bed with his hands balled into fists and his chest heaved. "Where is she?" His voice was low and ominous. "Tell me or I will destroy everything until I find the bastard."

Talia realized this was beyond serious when she noticed streaks of black twirling in Damon's normally icy-blue eyes.

Talia grabbed his hand. "I will tell you, but first… calm down. I need you to think. This is perfectly normal, and he is a wonderful boy."

"You knew!" Damon was livid. "Since when?" Wait! That was not important. The main question was… "Who is he!?" Damon was ready to murder the boy and ensure that his filthy bloodline was extinguished.

"I'm not telling you until you calm down," Talia said stubbornly.

Damon sneered. "Fine. I will find them myself."

Talia jumped off the bed and clung to him like a koala. "You will do no such thing, Damon! If you are so stubborn, I will teleport us to the middle of a jungle and it will take you a week to get back."

Damon groaned. The sparks of their bond flared wherever they touched, and that was most of his front.

His hands were hovering below her bare ass as he struggled to not hold her there for support. He was angry and he shouldn't give in no matter how wonderful her ass was.

"Do you think that a week in a jungle will calm me down?"

"If it doesn't, I will do it again and again and I will keep doing it until you calm down." She looked up at him. "Damon, be reasonable."

Damon's jaw ticked. "Vi is my baby. You want me to be reasonable while some filthy bastard is… Ahhh!" A non-manly cry-moan interrupted his words when Talia's lips latched to her mark on his neck.

In less than a second, Damon's mind was muddled with lust and his legs were shaky.

Her ass fit perfectly in his palms, and he gave her a squeeze as he stumbled on the bed with Talia on the bottom.

'You are not playing fair, kitten,' Damon spoke to her through their mind link while they worked together on the buttons of his jeans, ripping them before discarding what was left of the fabric.

Damon wanted answers and to rescue Violet from the lecherous guy who was lucky enough to be her mate, but at that moment, the only thing Damon could think about was getting deep into Talia, and he suspected that Sapa was increasing his lust because this was not normal.

"Fuck!" Damon cursed as he thrust into Talia in one mighty move and the way her eyes rolled to the back of her head was arousing beyond belief.

He started rocking into her with urgency because his baby daughter needed rescuing, but first... he needed to take care of his mate who needed him the most.

Hehehe... Damon, Damon... nearly two decades with Talia, and he didn't change much.