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"Talia…", Damon called. "Based on the coach\'s speech, I understood that you played a significant role in showing others how they are not a match for us. Especially the Blue River pack who didn\'t even reach the semifinals."

Maddox\'s expression darkened. Was there a need to call out his team? There were several other teams who failed to reach the semifinals!

Damon\'s hand snaked around Talia\'s waist, and he pulled her closer to him (and away from Maddox).

Talia\'s insides were a mess. What was Damon doing? Any closer and she will end up sitting in his lap!

When their hips connected and her bottom stopped gliding over the bench, Damon released Talia and she nervously looked up at Damon only to see him glaring at Maddox..

"Maybe losers should focus on training their team until the next tournament instead of scheming to poach my people."

Maddox was not sure why Damon turned unpleasant. Did he need to rub it in that they lost? Did he just call him a loser? And what was that nonsense about poaching people? It took him a moment to understand that Damon was talking about Talia.

\'Ah, so this is about Talia!\' Maddox smirked.

Earlier that morning, Damon talked about Talia like it\'s not a big deal, but Maddox remembered that Damon refused to allow Talia to move to Maddox\'s pack, even though she might be safer there.

Is it possible that Damon is interested in Talia for more than one night of rolling in the sheets? Well, she is staying in the packhouse, and they could do it without others noticing.

Maddox didn\'t care about Damon\'s private life, but he disliked Damon lying, so Maddox decided to poke around a bit and see what will happen.

"Don\'t you have something else to do?", Maddox asked Damon.

"What should I do during lunchtime other than having lunch?"

"How can you be here so leisurely? Shouldn\'t you have lunch with your guests at the packhouse? Many women will be disappointed that you are not there."

Damon was fuming. What women? There was only one woman worth mentioning, and she was right next to Damon, about to think who-knows-what about him.

Damon\'s outrage was well concealed under a cool fa?ade as he responded.

"Why would it matter if they are men or women? Regardless of gender, if they want to talk business, they should schedule an appointment. And if they want something else, I\'m not available. There is lunch at the packhouse, but everyone is free to eat where they want. Take yourself as an example. Besides, I felt like noodles, so I came here, and when I saw Talia I thought that this is a great opportunity to get to know my team spirit who was the MVP of the tournament. Did I explain my presence?"

Damon lifted his chin provocatively, "Why are you here? If you have free time, why are you not chasing after your team spirit and leave mine alone?"

"You are in my spot.", Axel grumbled at Damon when he approached the table with a bowl of steaming ramen in his hand.

When Axel reached the ramen stall, he realized that Damon took his serving, but everyone else placed their orders, so Axel had to wait or others would accuse him of skipping the line based on his status, and as a guest, that was not a polite thing to do.

On top of taking Axel\'s food, Damon took his spot next to Talia.

Axel was outraged at the thought of how Damon was shamelessly shouting that he paid for all the food, making himself sound magnanimous while backstabbing Axel.

"Your spot? I didn\'t see your name anywhere.", Damon responded matter-of-factly and waved toward Mindy. "If you want to sit at our table, I won\'t stop you. There are still spots that no one claimed."

Axel was visibly displeased, but he didn\'t want to cause a scene, so he sat on Mindy\'s left.

While Damon talked to Axel, Talia scooted away from Damon. She didn\'t want to risk people talking about how she was chummy with Alpha (any of the three). After all, this was in the town square and there were many people walking around even though not all stalls were open yet.

"Do you need help cutting that?", Damon asked while pointing at the pork in Talia\'s bowl. She still didn\'t touch her food.

Talia paused while wondering if Damon will cut her food here, in front of everyone (if she says that she needs help). But she didn\'t want to risk it. "I can manage. Thank you."

Talia hoped that someone will come to her rescue, but then she saw that Keith, Sandy, Lulu, Liam, Pierce, and Caleb were sitting at the neighboring table and observing the squabble between Damon and Maddox with Talia in the middle. They thought that Talia is very brave to still be sitting there.

And on the table next to them were Mark and several other soccer players, all of them were munching on ramen that Damon paid for.

The truth was that Talia was not concerned about Damon and Maddox bickering, or Axel\'s grumpy mood.

Talia was anxious because Miss Mindy was looking at her with an unreadable expression.

Was Mindy upset because she wanted Talia\'s spot so that she can sit next to Damon?

But Damon was sitting next to Talia, so close that their legs were touching, and it was not Talia\'s fault that Damon didn\'t give attention to Mindy.

"Miss Talia…", Axel called. "Why don\'t you tell us about the unusual ritual where players would hold your hand. What exactly is that?"

Damon gritted his teeth. Why was Axel reminding him of horrid scenes where Talia was worshiped by a bunch of sweaty guys? Was that on purpose?

"It was an accident.", Talia said quickly. "Liam, the player with number seven was hurt, and Doctor Travis asked me to help by holding the icepack. It was cold so I switched hands and then Liam offered to warm up my free hand. After that, he scored a goal and he told other players that it must be because of the handholding and that\'s how it started."

Axel was interested in one detail. "Your hand was cold? Is your wolf not warming you enough?"

All werewolves have increased metabolism and temperature (compared to humans), and unless they are suffering from blood loss or are enduring icy conditions for a long time, they don\'t get cold.

Talia was not sure how to respond to this and after a second of silence, Damon spoke, "Talia was hurt and her wolf suffered as well."

Axel\'s brows furrowed and he looked at Talia with concern obvious on his face. "How bad is it?"

Damon was irritated. This was something between him and Doctor Travis, and Talia was unaware of the possibility that her wolf might recuperate, yet this blabbermouth can\'t shut up.

"Is it normal for you to pry into personal matters of others?", Damon grumbled.

"I apologize.", Axel spoke to Talia. "I didn\'t mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It\'s OK.", Talia responded while wondering why Damon came to her rescue. Was her wolf-less state part of the secret that can endanger the pack? Probably.

After that, the conversation turned more casual as they chatted about the ramen, festival, weather… and just like that, they finished their meals.

"Talia, can I have a word with you in private?", Damon called Talia to step to the side.

This was quite unusual because normally werewolves would have private talks via mind-link without the need to physically distance themselves from others, but since Talia was not part of the Dark Howlers pack, a chat through the mind-link was not an option.

Talia followed Damon away from the tables until they reached the clocktower that was in the middle of the town square.

Damon stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants as a reminder not to hold Talia. He really wanted to hug her, or at least to hold her hand, but that will need to wait.

"I need to go to the packhouse and attend meetings.", Damon said. "It will probably take a big chunk of the afternoon."

Talia was confused. "Why are you telling me that?"

Why was he telling her that? Damon was not sure. He never shared his schedule with people other than Maya and Caden (who were his Betas). Part of Damon feared that Talia will disappear during his absence, or maybe one of those numerous guys that are buzzing around her manages to win her over.

Instead of answering her question, Damon said, "I should be back in time for the parade, and I would like to check out the festival together with you in the evening. Wait for me, alright?"

There was something in his expression that moved her heart, but she told herself not to get carried away.

"You said that you won\'t have time for me today.", Talia reminded him.

Damon hummed in confirmation and leaned closer before speaking in a whisper, only for Talia to hear, "I did, yet here I am. It seems that I can\'t stay away from you, Talia."

A million butterflies exploded in Talia\'s stomach, making her feel like she was floating. Why did this sound like a confession? Or did her ears malfunction?

Damon inched away and chuckled when he saw her completely red face.

He really wanted to kiss her all over.

"I will take that as a, yes.", Damon said to Talia who was nonresponsive because his words, \'I can\'t stay away from you\', echoed in her mind, blocking anything else.

Damon couldn\'t stop himself from pinching her nose. "Are you alright?"

Talia blinked herself to reality. Why was Damon looking at her expectantly? Did he say something? What was it? Whatever it was, the answer was, "Yes."

"Alright. I look forward to tonight." He didn\'t lie. No matter what the next few hours of meetings will bring, Damon knew that he will be thinking about spending his evening with Talia at the festival.

Damon remembered one thing he observed while stalking behind Talia and her group, Keith was carrying the bulky trophy for Talia.

"Do you want me to take that trophy to the packhouse? I can leave it in your room, so you don\'t drag it around. Unless you are coming to the packhouse now. I can give you a ride."

"I have plans for this afternoon. If you can take the trophy, that will be great and…" Talia paused. "I will see you tonight."

Damon\'s smile reflected in his eyes. "Definitely."

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