HUNTED

After seeing the bullet holes, Aila snapped out of her grief; she needed to help him right now. Without looking up to the commotion around her or listening to the words, Silas spoke. She immediately lengthened her nails into claws and started digging into Damon's flesh. Within seconds she pulled out the first silver bullet, dashing it to the side after feeling part of her thumb and index finger sizzling under the silver's poison. 

The only sounds Damon made were small moans, but he did not move. Aila could feel through the bond that he was confident in her actions. With her gaze settled on the second wound closer to his armpit, a sudden gunshot rang out and made Aila snap her eyes up. The sound seemed to speed everything back to normal. Her surroundings became clearer, and the sounds of voices, the wind and the start of raindrops crashing through leaves suddenly rang through her head, coming back to life, reminding her of the situation around her. 

"Get up, Aila. Or your friends will be next," Silas deadly voice seemed to pierce through her heart, and with it, the overwhelming urge to throttle him to death. A burning rage began to swirl and sizzle through her veins from the pit of her stomach until all she felt was a murderous rage. She looked at Silas; without moving from her position on the ground, she let out a ferocious growl that made some of the hunters take a step back from their position, their hands shaking on their AK47s.

"If Damon dies, I will make sure that you, your loved ones, even your friends will burn to the fucking ground. You will WISH you had never been born! I will not take orders from you. I will save my mate, and THEN I will switch places with the children. THIS is on YOU. So, you will wait until I am done." Aila's raised voice gradually lowered until the calm, deadly tone sent shivers down their spines. 

A tight-lipped smile formed on Silas' face, and he gestured for her to proceed, "Of course."

Aila was already removing the second bullet before he replied. Even with her temper raging a storm inside her, she stayed calm, her hands still as she flicked the second bullet to the side. She could still hear Damon's heart beating.

Malia was very close to the surface. Their mate was dying on their lap after trying to negotiate fairly. Even after everything the hunters already did to their pack. But Aila kept her at bay; she needed to concentrate on this last bullet, it was the closest to his heart, and she didn't have her utensils, her specula.

"This one might hurt more. I love you," Aila mind-linked Damon and watched as his half-open eyes blinked, and he nodded his head once.

"Do it," His breathless reply echoed through her mind. 

Taking a deep breath in, she relaxed her tense body and slowly brought her hand back to the bullet wound. With slow precision, her claws of her thumb and index finger entered and gripped onto the bullet. Damon hissed as she quickly pulled it out and watched as Damon's face paled further. She held her non bloodied hand against his face and kissed his lips softly. 

She could hear the steady rhythm of his heart.

"I'm okay," He muttered, "thank you." 

Aila sighed in relief, and she felt her heart lighten from his words. But to be sure, she did a quick once over through the bond to make sure he wasn't lying. She could feel his pain, but it was becoming increasingly less.

"He's healing. But it was silver bullets and near the heart.." Malia's tear-filled voice floated through Aila's mind, "it might take him a day to recover. Maybe quicker, he a Steel. But he's okay now.."

Aila couldn't help the tears trickle down her face and onto his as she closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his. Her body felt like it was shaking from relief, anger and happiness, but slowly, the rage she felt was becoming all-consuming. Damon could have died. 

With those thoughts burning through her mind, she used her last few seconds of peace with Damon in her arms to send orders to the pack, who had been waiting with bated breath on their Alpha's condition. "The plan goes ahead as before. Once the children are safe, we attack. Tommy, Zeke, Jake and Nairi, I want you to take Damon back to the packhouse now." 

"Luna," The pack replied as one to her order. 

"Be careful," Damon muttered to her, "make use of your Beta, Gamma, Delta and.." He sighed with a grimace, "and Ajax." His voice was low in her mind, but it stirred her on that much more. She kissed him again before looking for one of the warriors. 

As they approached them, the hunters pointed their guns at the new werewolves in their human forms. 

"They are collecting their Alpha. Once he is out of sight, then I will come with you," Aila stated. Her voice didn't leave any room for argument, which made Silas' face drop even more. Aila could tell he was not used to being ordered around, especially by a 'mutt'. She wanted to smirk, but every time she looked at him, or Clint, who she presumed was the one to shoot her mate, she wanted nothing more than to rip their faces off.

Which was stupid. Aila's eyes wandered to the remaining children, who were still hooded, their hands tied together in front of them. She needed to be smart and get them back to the pack; she could kill Silas after. Malia instantly agreed with a growl of her own.

Aila watched as Damon was lifted by the warriors, standing as she did so and asked ten more to go with them as extra protection. She didn't think there were any more hunters on their territory, but she didn't care; her mate was injured, and it could very well be a part of their plan. Silas obviously knew they were mated and knows that Damon would come after her immediately if something went wrong and she was, in fact, taken by them. 

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