HUNTED

"Out. Of. The. Way. Aila."  Damon growled each word slowly through gritted teeth. Aila could hear Darius very close to breaking through and taking the reins of Damon\'s body.

"Damon, calm down," Aila replied softly and wrapped her hand around his wrist gently. His gaze was still fixed on the vampire behind her. He took a step around her, but she placed her other hand on his face and turned it, so he was looking at her.

"Damon," She gently called to him, caressing his cheek. 

His body was still tense, but as their eyes burned into each other, and the fiery sparks of passion and the bond began to sizzle in the air. Aila could see his eyes softening and the rage inside of him diminishing slightly, not completely, but there was also longing seeping through the bond. Aila released his wrist, and instantly, she was pulled in to him, their lips crashing into each other. Damon\'s hand grabbed roughly at her waist while the other hand clung to her hair. All that anger, longing and pain was crushed into that kiss.

Aila wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers glide through his silky black locks. A growl escaped his chest, and he pulled her even closer to him, clinging to her like she was going to disappear. Their lips parted, and Aila let Damon dominate her mouth in his aggressive and passionate way.

"I take it that this is Aila\'s mate," Gabriel said from behind Aila.

An aggressive growl vibrated through Damon\'s chest, and he opened his eyes, glaring at Gabriel while he bit down onto Aila\'s bottom lip. She gasped and felt herself melting into him even more, Aila wanted nothing more than for him to ravish her, but she got a hold of herself. She could still feel Damon\'s anger and confusion as to why Aila was protecting Cassius.

Aila pulled back and leaned her forehead and hands against Damon\'s heaving chest. Once she caught her breath, she looked back up into his molten silver eyes; they were burning back into her with questions and want.

"That\'s not Cassius," She informed him; Damon\'s brows raised, and his eyes began to glow. "No, seriously. This is Gabriel. He and Cassius are twin brothers."

Damon parted his lips to reply, but Aila mind-linked him, showing him her memory of what happened earlier. The image was clear due to it being so recent. Showing the moment when Gabriel and Cassius stood in the same room with each other. Aila dropped her eyes from his and turned her head to look at Gabriel, "Gabriel, this is my mate Damon, Alpha King of the Silver Crescent pack."

"Charmed. I\'m Gabriel, Vampire King of.. well, all the vampires," He smirked.

"So, should we be bowing to both of you?" Ajax intervened, glancing between the two powerful men in the room.

"That was a given from the start, Ajax. You\'re the only one not bowing to Damon or Aila," Finn muttered and walked to stand by Damon\'s side. Damon and Finn nodded at each other as Aila stepped back out of his arms. 

After reading Damon\'s thoughts, she now knew what the pair were keeping from her. It was something so simple, but she understood. Her mind couldn\'t be trusted with Cassius breathing down her neck and listening to her thoughts all the time. Damon wanted to take her away from the vampire and to go further into hiding. 

He was going to leave his pack leaders in charge of the pack and making decisions from afar over the phone until the hunter situation was resolved. Aila frowned. If they did that, it could take years before they would return to the pack. Hmm, the best course of action would be to take out the \'higher ups\'. Silas, Clint and anyone above them so they could not be replaced, and while they ran around like headless chickens until they appointed a new leader, the packs could take them out.

Aila shook her head. She was getting ahead of herself. Right now, things needed to calm down between the Vampire King and Alpha King.

"If you were here earlier, you would have seen what a party Aila created.." Ajax joked and while Gabriel walked back to the bar and poured himself another drink.

"What do you mean?" Damon moved his eyes away from the vampire and looked down at his mate. It was then he noticed her dress was slightly ripped at the bottom, and she was wearing a necklace. Everything she was wearing was brought by that vampire. His gaze darkened, and Aila pursed her lips both from Ajax\' comment and from Damon\'s thoughts.

"I erm, well really, I was just defending myself.." Aila stuttered, trying to find the right words to say how her actions were so violent.

"You broke a bottle and stabbed a vampire in the neck with it.." Ajax exclaimed, looking at her like she had gone mad. "In a vampire club! You may be nearly invincible, but I\'m not!"

Aila looked at Ajax and suddenly felt very guilty. He had a cut under his left eye with a bit of bruising darkening his cheek. "I\'m sorry, guys. I lost it for a bit.." She muttered and looked down.

"You should have stayed inside a little longer," Damon stroked her hair and pinned a bit of it behind her ear while he stared into her sparkling, crystal blue eyes. "The effects of being feral is still in your system. The longer you let your wolf take over, the longer it takes to rub off the effects. That\'s why it\'s nearly impossible to return, but.." He glanced at Gabriel, and the muscle in his jaw began to tick

"Cassius knows your wolf\'s true name," Gabriel broke the tumbler in his hands, not even flinching as his blood trickled out onto the bar. "No wonder your mate wanted to kill me besides kissing you."

"Wait, what?!"

Aila looked past Damon. Beta Kane and Gamma Chiara had entered through the back door; they were catching their breaths and staring between the vampire behind the bar, Damon and Aila.

"Great, more werewolves. Please, do come in," Gabriel gestured with his hand while glaring at the newcomers.

"It\'s not like that," Aila held her hands up in surrender before Damon pulled her into a tight embrace, silencing her. For a few moments, it felt like it was only them in the room, and Aila closed her eyes against his huge and overly warm frame. She relaxed into him and wanted everything to be over with.

But it didn\'t work like that. Once Aila opens her eyes again, everything will still be there to deal with. She was glad to hear Finn explaining to Kane and Chiara about the misunderstanding; it was one less thing to do. Aila sighed and opened her eyes. Gabriel was watching her with an unknown expression on his features.

"Come on, let me take you home," Damon murmured in her mind. She knew he was checking her thoughts and feelings. Aila felt emotionally worn out, but she needed to hear everything there is to know about how her future is now linked together with her ancestor\'s past.