HUNTED

Aila's legs were dangling from the height of the beast who held her by her throat. Her hands gripped tightly onto its forearms as her lungs burned for air, and her face grew red. The beast growled at her, but a howl much louder and deeper ripped through them, shattering glass and vibrating the grounds. Aila turned her head, her heart leaping in relief, already knowing who it was.

In all his bristling glory was Alpha Damon. His black wolf with pure muscle underneath its thick fur, his teeth baring with a look to kill as he stalked towards them. Everyone, beast, hunter and pack member alike, stopped and stared. Then, finally, he picked up his pace and charged towards the beast from the other end of the car park. His strides were long and powerful, while his face seemed both terrifying and fierce.

Yet, the beast holding onto Aila only tightened its grip around her throat, ignored him and snarled at her. That snarl caused Malia to react. Aila's vision tunnelled, blurring before it expanded wider than she'd ever thought possible. Her body clenched by the thirst for power now surging like invisible flames bursting through her body. Aila and Malia merged briefly, causing her eyes to shine a brilliant crystal blue as a growl erupted from her chest, vibrating along the beast's arms. 

She growled into its face, and its own snarl stopped, tilting its head to the side as its own eyes began to glimmer. The beast released her, letting her drop to her feet, and she watched in amazement as it went down on all fours and bared its neck to her. But it was too late. Damon reached them, leapt onto it and ripped into its neck until he managed to tear it away from its body.

Aila stared at the bloody mess on the ground, and she felt her heart sink. Her eyes moved away from the dead beast on the floor and stared into Damon's platinum-gold orbs. His snarling had stopped, and his paw stepped forwards. Without any prompting, Aila wrapped her arms around Damon's head, barely able to clutch her fingers together. She closed her eyes and leaned into his silky fur, finding comfort in his warmth.

"Aila," His voice was deep and majestic, full of want. Damon's voice was merged with Darius, and they spoke to her. 

She sighed into him further, "Damon" her whisper was like a small caress through his ears. His mate, his beloved, Aila, was safe. At this moment, all his worries and frustrations melted away. 

He closed his eyes briefly, lowering his head further on her shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to shift back into a human and embrace her properly, take her in his arms, and remove her from any harm. But shit needed to be dealt with, and until the remaining hunters, rogues and modified werewolves were destroyed, he had to stay in his wolf form. So he opened his luminous orbs, already surveying the area and making sure Aila was still safe.

Aila pulled back then, feeling his frustrated sigh. She stroked his snout and paused, glancing at their surroundings; it seemed the modified werewolves were all dead, with only a few hunters left as the type 1 rogues fled. Even with their savage behaviour, they knew when it was time to run. The pack began to chase them, but at the same time, Aila and Damon mind-linked them, "Stop!"

Aila turned her head back to Damon and bit her lower lip as she watched him narrow his eyes. One side of her lips tugged into a smile, as much as she tried not to. Damon nudged his huge head into hers, almost making her fall over from the force before he mind-linked the pack again, "Let them go. Kill the remaining hunters and attend to the wounded."

Damon turned away but halted and snapped through the mind-link at Aila, "Where is your friend?"

Aila looked at him blankly, confused by his question, "My .. friend." She gasped; her swirling pool of blue orbs widened before searching her surroundings, "Hollie!"

She immediately started walking off with her eyes flickering around, but Damon leapt towards her and landed in front of her. 

"You're not going anywhere without me," He growled. 

Aila rolled her eyes to the heavens and looked past his giant wolf form and mind-linked Darren, "Where is Hollie?"

For a few moments, the line was quiet, and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion, muttering under her breath, "The rogues have left.. did he leave-"

"I think she is still in the car. That was where I left her last," Darren grunted. He sounded as though he was still fighting, with her eyes still looking off at a distance; she reached her hand out, letting it glide against Damon's furry face and stepped around him. 

It seemed out of the four guards and Darren and Finn, who helped take down the modified werewolves earlier, only two of the guards survived, leaving them to now be fighting the last of the rogues who stayed. She watched as Finn had his jaw locked on a rogue's neck and dropped it before snarling at another, the one Darren was fighting.

"Finn," She mind-linked him. He whipped his head around, and without any further urging, he raced towards her.

When he stood in front of her and Damon, he bared his neck in respect. Although it seemed Damon was angry about something, he growled back at Finn, and the pair looked dazed for a moment. Why were they mind-linking without her? She pulled on Damon's fur, and the link was broken.

"It's rude not to include me in the conversation," She snapped before her icy gaze landed back on Finn, "I need you to check on Hollie. Get Darren to mind-link you where she is. I think she's seen a hell of a lot now to do with werewolves. Grab some clothes, tell her you're my friend. If she doesn't believe you, say.."

Aila placed her hand on her chin in thought. What would make Hollie believe him? Aha!

Snapping her fingers, she mind-linked him, "Just tell her that you know about the time she and I went to a club, and she went home with someone who looked like Jack Sparrow. But in the morning when she showed me who it was, it turned out to be.. Don't say anymore. She probably won't let you finish but if she does, just mind-link me. But I don't think she wants one of her secrets revealed.."

Finn nodded his head and ran down an alley, re-emerging a few moments later in some shorts, showcasing his own well-built body as he began sprinting in the direction of wherever Hollie must be. Then, just as Aila turned her unimpressed gaze at Damon, a man's cry howled out. The desperation in his voice sent her heart into a painful flutter.

It was Kane. At that realisation, she immediately sprinted in the direction of where Nairi was; Damon was quick behind her, and they stopped just before they crouched next to Kane and Tommy by Nairi's body. She was now in her human form with Tommy's jacket covering her.

Her gorgeous light brown and golden curly hair was fanned out, her eyes closed, with her chest barely rising and falling. Kane's shoulders shuddered as his hands clutched onto one of hers, the other stroking her forehead. He kissed the tips of her fingers. 

Aila felt cold, watching the tears fall down his typically stoic face. 

"Damon, forgive me", He pleaded; his voice trembled, and as Damon took a step towards his Beta, a tiny golden glow began expanding from between his fingers, causing Damon to stop and lower his head. Aila watched in amazement as the sparks flourished out from Kane and began flowing over Nairi's arm and splitting into two at her shoulder. The golden sparkles of dust went over her face and down her body all the way to her feet. 

"As thy mate, I give thee my health to help recover," Kane's pained voice broke at the end of his sentence. The dust shifted and landed on top of Nairi's skin, turning into golden liquid before evaporating and sinking into her pores. Aila glanced back at Kane and watched as the colour left his face; his cheeks became hollow and dark bags circled underneath his eyes, along with his golden hair dulling slightly. 

He began trembling, but his hands stayed secure on Nairi's. Blood spluttered out of his mouth, and Aila jumped forwards, about to help him, but Damon's warning growl stopped her. She looked into the deep depths of his molten silver eyes and could see the pain and sorrow he felt for commanding her not to do anything.

"If you interrupt him. Both of them will die," Damon spoke quietly, almost like a whisper across her mind.

"But he will die," Malia whispered back.

"It was his choice," A deeper voice replied. Aila then realised that Malia spoke through the mind-link to Damon, only to have Darius answer instead. Aila stood up and rounded to his side, leaning into Damon and burying her head into his neck. She couldn't watch as their friend's fought for their lives.

"Nairi is his mate. As you are mine. If our roles were reversed, I wouldn't hesitate for a single second to do what he is doing now," Damon's voice rumbled through her mind, calming her further.

The sound of a gasp interrupted them, and Aila pulled her head back, her eyes wide in shock as she watched Kane collapse and Nairi sit up. Her hair flung back as she looked at her mate by her side and immediately started sobbing as she pulled Kane into her lap.

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