HUNTED

Damon saw red.

Damon's upper lip pulled back, and he snarled at Cassius' lips touching his mate's cheek. His own lips burned from Cassius' touch fuelling his temper. Claws grew from his hands, and his skin started to rip from the fur sprouting out from his hands. He buckled forwards but fell flat as he struggled to move with everyone, now including Esme, on top of him. Even with the sudden added weight of Kane's golden wolf and Finn's grey one, he continued to struggle. They had shifted on the spot to keep him moving. 

His struggles started to tire him out, and he felt frustrated. He wanted to lash out at each of them for keeping him there. He had to watch from afar as another man touched his woman, and instead of being allowed to rip him to pieces like most Alpha's would, he had two wolves keeping him down. Aila was just before him, but she was out of reach.

Damon growled, pausing when his protruding canines bit into flesh and blood spurted into his mouth. He looked down in shock, retracting his canines. He looked up to see Esme had covered his mouth with both her hands, and he'd bit her. She didn't so much as hiss or grimace at the pain. In fact, she was looking at the gardens, disinterested in her bleeding hand.

Did she not feel pain?

Damon felt his face burning as though someone was glaring at him. When he looked up, Gabriel was indeed glaring at him. He did feel bad and wanted to mind-link Esme to apologise, then he scoffed, remembering he hadn't accepted her into the pack yet. But even more shockingly, Esme patted his head like she understood. Gabriel grabbed her injured hand and licked away the blood; her wound already healed now. 

"Oh, Aila.." 

At Cassius' voice, Damon looked back at the castle grounds. The white-haired vampire had taken a few steps away from Aila and was now looking over his shoulder. "Are you sure you're not hungry?" 

Aila shook her head, keeping her back to him. 

"I figured you were holding back again, or was the sight of what those youngsters did to the humans too much for you?" Cassius asked her nonchalantly, making Damon wonder what sort of party was going on in that castle and if this was the reason she acted so coldly about killing the other vampires.

The wind blew across Aila's stylishly curled hair, and Damon watched her eyes intently. But from where he stood, he couldn't read them; all he saw was a distant, chilling stare. She abruptly turned and scoffed. "Why are you asking such a ridiculous question? Did you think I would suddenly be okay with killing humans to feed?"

Cassius strolled back towards her, his hands in his trouser pockets now as he tilted his head to the side, observing her. "Of course, I did not-"

"Then why did you bring them? Why did you put on such a show if you knew I'd hate it?" She asked with a slight growl. 

Were her eyes glowing now? Damon couldn't see with her back facing him. 

"I'm getting you used to it, my sweet, sweet Aila," Cassius replied as he stopped in front of her.

His!? Damon's claws dug into the earth again, but this time he refrained from growling, glancing at Esme's hand reappearing in front of his mouth. It was such a strange action, but it stopped him from making any noise. If Damon injured her again, who knew what Gabriel would do.

"I do not wish to get used to it," She snapped. No, that wasn't Aila's voice; it was Malia's. Darius howled in his mind, and he wondered if her wolf could feel him begging for her to return. Aila's shoulders stiffened slightly; it was the smallest of actions, but it didn't go unnoticed by him nor Cassius as his eyes hardened.

The vampire glanced around them before he stepped even closer to her. Clasping his hands on her shoulders, Aila leaned away from him like she couldn't stand being close to him. They stood in that position for some time until her body slowly relaxed and her head almost sagged. 

What..

"Cass was speaking to Malia telepathically. At least he was being careful of his surroundings still. But my brother basically pushed Malia back into a small corner of Aila's mind," Gabriel answered Damon's question in his mind. He frowned at his words and how Aila seemed more comfortable from Cassius' touch now.

"Comfortable.." Darius growled menacingly as he paced against the edges of his mind again. His wolf was surprisingly under control, considering Cassius seems to have locked her away somehow; Darius hadn't tried to take the reins in a while. 

Cassius cupped Aila's cheeks, caressing them with his thumbs, the action made Damon's blood boil, and he clenched his teeth together as his claws started to pierce his skin from where his hands were clenched together. 

Shit. He couldn't have his scent here. Damon stretched his fingers, but his eyes remained on his mate and Cassius, his gut twisting and his chest tightening.

"How are you feeling?" Cassius asked as he stared at Aila intently.

Aila swayed slightly but shook her head and grabbed Cassius' wrists, gently removing his hands from her face. "I am fine," She replied quietly and turned away from him. Her face looked pale, and she clenched her eyes shut as she held her hand against her head. "I have a slight headache."

"You need to feed more," Cassius strolled back towards her, rolling the sleeve of his left arm up.

"No, I just need rest. We've been up for more than twenty hours.. Unlike you, I still need to sleep more," Aila joked, but her features didn't match the tone in her voice. She looked fatigued.

Cassius stepped closer to her and rested his chin on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear, "Are you sure?"