The Alpha's Bride

Thank you, SilaMelei, for the Magic Castle!     

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Thank you for reading my story on the WebNovel platform (w e b n o v e l . c o m), where this novel is published!     

Now back to the novel... :)     

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Now that everyone in the room knew about witches, Talia wanted to bring up another point. "From what Marcy told us, there might be some artifacts that can suppress witches' powers. I don't want to risk witches coming out to our realm only to be trapped and stripped of their powers. We need to be careful about this. Cornelia, are you aware of such artifacts?"     

Cornelia's expression was not good. "Yes. There are spells that can boost our connection with nature, and there are spells that can block it. Spells can be imbued into artifacts, but that requires skilled artifact refiners and precious materials. We have only a few of those in our Coven and they are treated like treasures."     

Cornelia was restless, and Talia did her best to pacify her. "Don't worry. No one other than us here knows what you are. As soon as the pack run is done and we confirm that everything is stable, we can leave for the Midnight Guardians pack and see if they have more information. Axel will help."     

"Are you sure that Alpha Axel will help?", Keith asked. "The Midnight Guardians is known to keep to themselves."     

"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention…", Talia paused while wondering how people will take this. "You see, I am the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack. Axel is my proxy."     

With that, Talia told them everything she wanted to say, and she waited for them to resume breathing before asking, "Surprised?"     

"What do you mean by, you are the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack?", Mindy asked.     

"It happened."     

"Alphas don't just happen, Talia.", Mindy said. "I know because I was born in the Alpha family. It's either that or you fight to declare your dominance over the existing Alpha, and the Midnight Guardians had two Alphas!"     

Maya, Gideon, and Dawn spoke at the same time, and then Sandy and Lulu joined with Pierce, Zina, and Caleb and the whole room erupted in a hubbub.     

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose. All this was getting out of hand.     

'Don't yell at them', Talia's voice sounded in Damon's head. 'They are just excited.'     

Damon cocked an eyebrow at Talia. 'Are you babying them? They are grown people.' He looked at James who was sitting calmly next to Cornelia and playing with her fingers. 'Actually, the only kid in the room is acting like a grownup.'     

Eventually, the clamor related to Talia being the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack subsided.     

"Does that mean we will accompany you to the Midnight Guardians pack?", Sandy asked Talia excitedly. Everyone knew that's the most mystical place on the planet!     

Talia confirmed. "Yes. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow."     

Damon looked at Keith, Sandy, Lulu, Pierce, Caleb, and Liam. "The six of you are dismissed until the pack run." He glanced at the Shaman. "I guess you should also prepare for the ceremony."     

Gideon understood that this was his cue to leave, and he and Mindy moved after Talia's six guards.     

"Alpha Talia…", Gideon called when Talia's guards were out of the earshot. "If you want to assure the loyalty of your guards, may I suggest a blood oath?"     

"A blood oath?" Talia never heard of such a thing.     

"It's an oath where you can feel if the other party is about to betray you and you can end their life with a thought."     

Talia shuddered at this. Surely, that won't be necessary.     

"We will consider it and let you know.", Damon responded instead of Talia. Actually, he liked that idea. His parents had a lot of people they trusted, and some of them betrayed them which led to their untimely death.     

Damon gave Caden a knowing look and two Betas also left the conference room with Zina.     

With that, Damon and Talia were left with Dawn, George, James, and Cornelia.     

"Is there more?", Dawn asked. She was not sure if she could handle more information in one day.     

Talia responded, "Now we know that the Guardians are witches, and we were hoping that George and James can help us look into the information that the Red Moon pack has."     

"Do you think my grandfather was collaborating with the Guardians?", James asked. He dismissed the bad relationship idea because if Guardians were at odds with the Red Moon pack, the Red Moon pack wouldn't exist.     

"We are not sure what to think", Talia said honestly. "But Marcy mentioned objects that can suppress witches' powers, and Guardians can use runes to suppress Alpha aura. That's not something you would create randomly. What we know points us to the possibility of witches and werewolves being close. In the Silver Flame Coven, there is a fountain with a statue of a woman and a wolf. I'm sure that the Guardians have more pieces of the puzzle, but we can't approach them openly until we understand their motives. And also…" Talia paused. "James, will you bring Cornelia with you to the Red Moon pack?"     

"We didn't talk about it yet.", James responded while tightening his hold on Cornelia. "I hope that we won't be apart. But if Cornelia comes with me, I'm not confident I can guarantee her safety."     

"You can come with me to my Coven.", Cornelia said, and James' face lit up. This was the first time she said how she wants them to be together.     

"That sounds fantastic!", James exclaimed and then his expression dropped. "But it's not a decision I can make lightly. If I just disappear, my father will go ballistic. So far, I was thinking that I have two years to figure out what to do but staying away from you while living on pins and needles for such a long time sounds impossible."     

James turned to look at George, Damon, and then at Talia. "I am sure that you know I don't have Alpha aura. My father believes it will manifest itself by my eighteenth birthday, and when it doesn't…" He released a long breath.     

"George?", Damon called, surprising James.     

James thought how this was the part where they will ask him questions, or start talking about him being a fraud and how he is not Alpha Edward's son, but then everyone was looking at George.      

James realized that he was missing something. Something important.     

"What?", George asked.     

Damon rolled his eyes. "Come on. We are all sharing here. Considering your identity, it's impossible to believe that you will stick with the career of a Commander in the Red Moon pack. I hear that you want to take Dawn with you there, and I'm confident that you wouldn't put her in that disadvantageous position long term, which means you are up to something. You know that James is smart, and we collaborated more than once. Depending on what you want to do, we can help each other."     

"George", Dawn called in a soft voice, and he turned to look into her light gray eyes that pleaded him to speak up. "They can help. I trust my Alpha and I trust Talia.", she said. Dawn didn't know about James, but she was confident that Talia and Damon will offer their assistance.     

After a long pause, George released a long breath and turned to James. "My full name is George Shaw, and I am the Alpha of the Frostcrest pack."