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He normally doesn't come to the third floor, but now Caden climbed there because he wanted to confirm that Damon is awake since Damon told him that he will be out after breakfast, so they had an early start.

Of course, Caden would use mind-link, but Damon shut down his side.

Caden was not sure why would Damon be unreachable, but now that he saw Talia scarcely dressed coming out of Damon's room, Caden understood what's going on.

Caden turned on his heel and went down the stairs with the spring in his step.

He opened the door of his room and sashayed toward Maya who was fixing her hair.

"Is Damon awake?", Maya asked.

"Mhm", Caden responded with a hum.

Maya eyed Caden and she could see that he was nearly bursting from saying something, seemingly important.

"What happened?"

"I won the bet."

Maya didn't get it. "What bet?"

"When Talia came here, I said that Damon will get her into his bed within a week."

Maya frowned. "What?"

"Don't try to deny it. I said, one week, and you said, no way. I just saw Talia escaping from Damon's room into hers and based on her appearance, she slept in his room."

"Poor girl. He is fast."

Caden didn't understand Maya's reaction. "Why, poor girl? They are mates. Actually, I was wondering what took him so long. It's obvious that the bond was driving him crazy because whenever Talia was not with him, he was distracted. She was just across the hallway and considering that our Alpha has no concept of patience and self-restraint, it's a miracle that he didn't drag her into his room on the first night she came here. Now that they are together, Damon should be more… normal."

Maya thought that some things don't add up. "If they are together, why did she leave his room? We both know that mates have difficulty staying away from each other, especially while the bond is forming because the initial flow of emotions is fueling up insecurities. And if they are sharing a bed, why is Talia trying to leave the packhouse?"

Caden didn't have answers to Maya's questions. "You should talk to her again and see if she changed her mind about leaving."

"I will."

After breakfast…

Maya was frustrated that she didn't get a chance to talk to Talia.

Damon was hovering around Talia, putting food on her plate and feeding her, and as soon as they finished with breakfast, they headed out.

Damon didn't even tell them where they are going or how long they will stay, but based on the instructions he gave, they will be back later in the day, in the evening probably.

"It seems that our Alpha wants to disconnect with his mate.", Caden said to Maya when it was just the two of them. "That's what I would do."

"Don't you think it's too soon to celebrate?", Maya asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Talia didn't reject his pampering, but she didn't look like an enamored girl who spent the night with her mate.", Maya voiced her observation. "Is it possible that she doesn't know what Damon's intentions are?"

Caden burst into a hearty laugh.

"Maya… my sweetie pie…", he said while catching his breath. "I don't think that even our Alpha knows what his intentions are."

Caden saw that Maya was not amused, so he cleared his throat before continuing, "What I was trying to say is, if Damon wants Talia to be our Luna, he should just announce it to everyone. With that, the pack would be aware of her existence and protect her while she takes the place that belongs to her. And if he wants to reject the bond, he should have done that a long time ago and not let her stick around."

"You are saying that Damon is toying with Talia."

"Well, not exactly toying, but maybe he has a plan and he is making the situation ambiguous until he figures out… yeah, toying is the right term."

Maya made a face. "What happened with you messing with Damon until he spills that Talia is his mate?"

Caden spread his arms, palms up, showing her that he has nothing. "Come on, sugarplum. It's been only a few days, and I didn't get a chance to work on that." He saw that Maya pursed her lips and there was a familiar spark in her eyes, so he asked, "Are you going to interfere?"

Maya didn't respond, but Caden took her silence as a, 'yes'.

Ah, he loves when Maya makes a move. His brilliant mate always knows which strings to tug on and how hard in order to get the desired result.

"Did you call Alpha Edward?"

Caden's question pulled Maya out of her thoughts, and she frowned.

"Not yet. I guess I should get that out of the way first…"

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Damon enjoyed the sight of Talia who looked at everything with her eyes open wide and a big smile on her face, unable to conceal her excitement.

Talia's eyes sparkled. There was loud music, colors, lots of people, laughter, cheers, and the scent of delicious food, and she never would have guessed that Damon will bring her to an amusement park.

During the hour-long drive, she was guessing if they are going to the human town where she went to the hospital, but she recognized the scenery as they zoomed past that area and drove further away.

A gentle squeeze of Talia's hand got her attention and she looked questionably at Damon.

"What ride do you want to try first?", Damon asked. "Or do you want to try candied corn? Chocolate-dipped pretzels?"

Talia shrugged and shook her head at the same time. "Everything sounds great, but I've never been to a place like this, so I have no idea from where to start. I want to try them all."

Damon chuckled. "Alright. Let's start with the closest one." And he led the way toward the merry-go-round that had seats shaped as carriages.

"My lady…"

He gave her his hand to hold while climbing on the ride and he even bowed a little, and Talia giggled while thinking how Damon looks like a prince from her Cinderella book.

Damon was pleased with Talia's reaction. He was contemplating where to take her, but he knew that a romantic spot would freak her out, so he decided on an amusement park.

Talia can experience something new, and he will get closer to her without her suspecting anything.

Damon has no idea how to woo a girl, and everything he read online was confusing, so he kept his plan simple. He will stick to Talia and make sure she has fun and she will get used to his presence until she realizes that he became an essential part of her life, and then he won't fear her reaction when she finds out that they are mates because she will already be in love with him.

Damon was confident that this will work.

It was Sunday, so the place was lively. There was food, and games, and rides, and people crowding the space made their hand-holding a necessity, and more than once, Damon held Talia's shoulder, pulling her to walk close to him so that they don't get separated. Perfect.

As they walked by the stalls, Damon noticed Talia looking curiously at the headbands that had animal ears on top. He grabbed one with brown kitty ears and put it on her head.

"A kitty. It suits you.", he said with a smile.

She wanted to remove it and he grabbed her hand before she could reach the headband.

"Do you not approve of cats? Should I get you the one with bunny ears, or would you rather be a mouse?"

"There is nothing wrong with cats." The problem was that she didn't have any money, and she was uncomfortable that Damon was paying for everything.

"Then, keep it on. I want you to have a souvenir, something to remember by our first visit here."

He paid for the headband and pulled her to the next stall that offered face painting. Damon took the brush and after two seconds, the tip of Talia's nose was black, and she had three whiskers on each cheek.

Damon looked at his handiwork and nodded in approval. "Now you are a kitty. My kitty."

Talia was not sure how to respond to this, but somehow, it confirmed that she is not only Damon's pet project, but he actually sees her as a pet. That would explain why wants her to sleep in the same bed.

Damon and Talia took a number of rides that rotated, shook, went up and down, and by the time they stopped for a snack, Talia's legs were wobbly.

Damon was happy to hold Talia around her waist and support her until they reached a bench to sit on.

The nearby stall sold bacon-wrapped corndogs, and they enjoyed them with soda that washed down the greasy food.

"Are you having fun?", Damon asked Talia.

"Yes. Lots.", she responded enthusiastically. "Is this your first time here?"

"It feels like it.", Damon said ambiguously before explaining. "I had a group of friends and unless something else was going on, we would come here on the weekend."

Talia noticed that he spoke in the past tense. "What happened? Why did you stop coming?"

"I became the Alpha of the Dark Howlers pack."

"As Alpha, you couldn't come here?"

Damon shook his head. "I was busy and they… became my subordinates. You can't have fun with people who bow their head to you whenever you raise your voice."

Talia nodded in understanding and continued munching on her corndog while her heart tightened.

She realized that ten years ago Damon didn't lose only his parents, but his friends as well.

From the stories Stephanie told her, Talia imagined teenage Damon at the center of every party, surrounded by his peers who admired him and girls who hoped to catch his eye.

Overnight, Damon turned from a carefree boy who was loved and admired into a scary Alpha everyone obeyed. Yes, he has a lot of people around him, but they are either serving him or trying to get something from him.

So far, Talia thought of Damon as moody, scary, indifferent, powerful, caring... but she never saw him as lonely. Until now.

This was another side of Damon, and it made Talia's heart ache.

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