CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & FIFTY EIGHT
Nolan’s POV
Talia had not been sleeping well this past week. Every night she would only sleep for a few hours before waking to stare at the ceiling. Talia did not want to talk about it and I didn’t pressure her.
At breakfast she sat across from me. Talia looked like a shell of her former self. She was pale with bags under her eyes.
‘We will have to get the doctor involved. Our mate needs to sleep,’ my wolf suggested.
Talia turned to the maid standing nearest to her and said, “Maggie, can you add sugar for my coffee?”
The maid did not move. Talia registered what she had said and the remaining color that was left on her face drained away.
“Leave us,” I said as I stood and opened the door. They left without a word and I closed the door. I pulled my chair beside Talia’s and put my arm around her. She turned into me and cried. She pressed her face against my shoulder, and I held her with my hand on the back of her head.
“She never got any of it,” Talia said. “The marking. The child. Everything he promised her and told her she would have. She died on that road without a single one of those things.”
“I know,” I said. I was still grieving Maggie as well. When alone, I allow myself to cry but I refuse to do it in front of Talia. Talia needed my support and one of us had to keep it together to keep the pack going.
“She was so happy in the infirmary when she found out,” Talia continued. “You saw her face. She was frightened and happy at the same time. Maggie should be here right now discussing the baby.”
“This is not your fault, Talia. You can’t keep torturing yourself like this.”
“How is it not my fault? He chose her because of me! He made her believe she was getting everything she had been waiting for and she was never anything to him except a way to reach me,” Talia exclaimed. “She deserved better than that. She deserved someone who actually wanted her.”
Talia wiped her face with her napkin and set her hands in her lap.
“I should have told you sooner,” she said. “When Maggie told me what Jason had asked her to do, I chose to handle it myself instead of coming to you. If I had brought you in immediately, we might have identified who he was before that dinner ever happened.”
“None of what you did was wrong, Talia. Why can’t you see that?” I argued. “You acted as a Luna should. You were protecting Maggie and you were right. I probably would have made the situation worse at the time.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do know that. Maggie betrayed us both and something like this I would not have been able to forgive, but you granted her mercy as a Luna should. You also told Maggie directly that a man who loved her would not put her in that kind of danger and you were right about that. The problem was that we did not know who we were actually dealing with.”
“I should have known better. All of this was too much of a coincidence,” Talia retorted.
“You can only say that now because of what we experienced. Jason spent months constructing a cover specifically so that no one would see through it until he was ready to act. You could not have identified him faster than you did and I would not have done better,” I argued.
Talia sighed and nodded. “You’re right,” she relented, “but Jason is not that smart nor creative. He didn’t do this alone I am sure his father helped him, but his father would not have the resources for something like that.”
“The smoke bomb smelled of rogue,” I said. “And I keep thinking about Viki. When she kidnapped you, she had enough rogues with her to carry it out.”
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“I thought that was odd too,” Talia added. “Viki was not someone who commanded that kind of loyalty. She was reckless and she was not a leader Someone was supplying her with people and resources she had no way of building on her own.”
“Could it be the same person helping Jason and Michael?” I asked.
“Potentially. Both were aimed at the same target: me. That is not a coincidence I can ignore. Is there anyone who would have a grudge against you?” Talia replied.
“Not that I am aware. No one would dare go against me until now,” I answered. I had made sure my reputation was that of someone who was strict and merciless just so no one would dare do something like this. However, I had not gone out of my way to antagonize anyone.
“Either way, we need to be more careful moving forward until we find out the real culprit behind all of this,” Talia suggested.
“I have been thinking the same thing since the night Maggie died,” I agreed. “I have already expanded the search and put every Alpha in this region on notice. Jason’s name, his face, the name he was using inside this pack, and what he did here. The order is to take him alive. When we have him, we will find out who is behind all of this and make them pay for what they have done.”
Talia nodded and took a sip of her coffee. She regained some color in her face after talking. The food on her plate was untouched.
“Eat,” I said.
“I am not hungry.”
“I know, but you haven’t been eating or sleeping properly. You’re going to end up back in the infirmary like this. Eat something. Do it for me please.”
Talia picked up her fork without another word and made the effort. She had managed only a few bites before the door opened hard.
Della came through it with her face flushed and her breathing fast.
“Something has happened,” Della said.
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