HUNTED

Back in Chester, Damon finally regained consciousness and found himself lying down on the bed of his and Aila\'s appointed room in Gabriel\'s penthouse. His chest tightened, and he swallowed past the lump in his throat; he felt empty. He looked at the space by his side where his Aila should be.

Damon felt disgusted at himself. He was the shittest mate. Even now, Damon had been unconscious for days now, and it wasn\'t because of his injuries but because Aila was not near him. He prodded at the bond that just bounced back. She had wolfsbane in her system. Those fucking hunters had her again.

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Damon sat up, the covers falling down, revealing his bare chest. "We need to rally the pack and the others to get Aila back," Darius\' voice roared through his mind, making his presence known to Damon. From what he could feel from his wolf, other than the obvious that he was upset and pissed off like him about Aila being taken, he was also annoyed with him.

"Of course, I am. You\'re never the type to mope around, and all you\'ve done is sleep. Sleep for two fucking days while our mate might be getting further and further away from us. She might be getting tortured!" Darius growled; his words felt like a punch to the gut.

He was right.

"Of course, I am!"

Damon jumped out of bed. His body was well-rested, his injuries completely healed. Even a new scar he received recently was gone on the side of his ribs. That\'s odd.. His healing was quick, but with scars, it took much longer for the skin to heal itself. Chiara was an exception due to the fact her sister held her in a bathtub of wolfsbane and clawed at her neck. The damage of the wolfsbane and Lydia\'s work was enough to leave a scar for life.

But it didn\'t matter if he was completely healed right now. His mate was gone, and he had to get her back. He felt like an idiot; two days had passed, instead of moping, he should have been taking action. He should have made contact with the packs nearby to search for Aila.

"Where is everyone?" Damon reached out to his Beta. He didn\'t want to waste any more time; they needed a plan.

"Alpha, we are in the dining room," Kane responded instantly. Damon threw on a black t-shirt and jeans before rushing towards the dining room.

Damon burst through the door, his face looking crazed to the point a few of his pack members flinched at the sight of him. He tried to calm down his bubbling anger, so much so he fisted his hands by his sides and took a long deep breath in. Before he asked more about Aila, he needed to take into consideration his pack members, and.. 

His eyes landed on some children, and his anger diminished at the sight of them. A little girl clung onto Ajax, while an older girl seemed to be taking care of three boys of varying ages.

Yes, he needed to make sure everyone here was fine first. "Were these the prisoners found at the compound?" He mind-linked Chiara. She nodded in response, and he sighed. These poor children, he wondered how long they\'d been kidnapped for. 

Damon rounded the table and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, there was no room anyway with the children, and he was too restless to sit. "Have they spoken much?" He enquired through the mind-link again.

"They have in bits and pieces," She replied nervously. Why was she nervous? Maybe whatever they have told her would anger him. He was already angry at the situation and how useless he has been, so perhaps the Gamma didn\'t want him breaking shit in front of the children. She should know him enough that he could hold onto his.. rage issues in front of the kids.

"Let\'s talk about it later; I need to get in contact with the packs," He muttered aloud, "I\'ve been an idiot."

"I was going to say a diva.." Ajax added and smiled after receiving a glare from the Alpha. If he didn\'t have that kid clinging onto him..

"I\'ve already phoned a couple of packs. They are alert and searching," Kane replied before taking a sip from his black coffee.

Damon sighed in relief. It was the Beta\'s job to take care of such issues if the Alpha is unable to. Some Beta\'s were useless and would not think to use their leadership role and speak with other packs in their Alpha\'s stead. For obvious reasons, some Beta\'s wouldn\'t dare take the plunge in case their Alpha thought they were trying to take on their role and understood it as a challenge, and in other cases, some packs would find it disrespectful that a Beta is dealing with an Alpha.

But the Silver Crescent Pack was well respected and feared. If their Alpha King was unable to talk to them directly, then the other Alpha\'s knew shit was going down, and if they didn\'t help where they could, then Alpha Damon Steel would come for them next.

"Thank you, Kane," Damon was thankful to him. "I suppose there have been no reports so far?"

Kane sullenly shook his head. "Only thing I can say is they took out some of the hunters who fled the compound we went to. Alpha Liam\'s pack took a few in for.. questioning," Kane glanced at the children, watching what words to use. "But I think the hunters are trained in those areas as well."

Damon\'s brows rose at this. "Alpha Liam.. He\'s in charge of the Shadow Pack. They are very well known for their.. techniques. And none of them has given any information?" Kane again shook his head. Damon then glanced at Chase for confirmation about the hunters training. "Chase, what sort of training did you go through?"

Chase was standing near the floor to ceiling length window, gazing at the traffic below. "The Hunters Association teaches from the youngest ages of seven upwards. If you aren\'t enrolled in the primary school stages, then the last chance is secondary school. Otherwise, you are deemed too weak. But the last of their training before they are put on fieldwork is to go through extensive training in.." He glanced at the children before continuing, "..such areas."