HUNTED

Aila scowled at the now empty spot in front of her. Davian, Davian Cross, her ancestor, was right in front of her? Why had he suddenly shown up? How did he know.. She stopped her thought process. Of course, Davian would know about her; he must keep track of the family, especially now that Aila was the 'last Cross'.

"How random. No wonder he stared. You look like Amelia, his mum," Malia murmured thoughtfully.

"It must be really strange.. From what I read in his diary, he hated her.. But there was no such hatred in his gaze," Aila replied to her wolf before taking another sip from her drink..

"Maybe he was in shock? It's been quite some time since he last saw her.." Aila nodded along to Malia's comment.

"Is everything okay, Aila?" Finn appeared by her side, looking at her, concerned. Aila looked at his face incredulously. Did he not hear Davian say his name?

"Erm.. That was Davian Cross.. My ancestor?" She mind-linked him, her voice conveying her confusion at how relaxed he appeared.

"What!?" Finn gaped at her. 

"Excuse me, would you like another drink?"

Aila turned her head to the waiter and shook her head, placing her half-empty glass of champagne on his tray. She needed to slow down on her drinking; she wanted others drunk so she could leave early with Damon, not be too drunk herself. "Well, he said Davian, but it's a big bloody coincidence that he turned up, revealing his eyes that are so similar to Gabriel's." Aila continued her conversation with Finn.

"I expected him to have white hair.." Finn glanced at hers pointedly. Of course, the ones occupying the throne were well known for their white hair, and it was said in Davian's diary that he had inherited his mother's genes. 

"He could have dyed it to.." Aila trailed off as her attention flickered to her surroundings. The garden was eerily quiet. She looked behind her and noticed that the people drinking and smoking stopped what they were doing and watched her. Finn and Aila were conversing in a mind-link, so there was no need for them to be alarmed by what they discussed.

Aila turned her head back to Finn and watched as the waiter who took her glass placed the tray on the ground and lunged forwards, putting Finn in a headlock and piercing a needle into the side of his neck. Aila instantly stepped forwards, recognising the clear liquid, but as she did, a knife replaced the needle against his throat. Aila was also kicked from behind her knees at the same time, making her fall to the ground as she too was injected at the back of her neck.

Stupid! Chiara always taught her to be wary of her surroundings.

Aila tensed at the burning sensation, but she struggled against the person who pushed her face into the ground, keeping her down.

"If you make a sound or move, your friend dies, mutt." The waiter hissed. Aila paused and grimaced as her bun was then pulled back, and a silver knife was pressed up against her throat. "Now, stand up."

Aila glared at the waiter. No, the man dressed as a waiter. "You guys are seriously stupid. There are about 200 werewolves in there." She snarled before smirking as the blade cut into her skin more, causing a line of blood to trickle down her neck. Her beautiful dress was covered in dirt and now blood; at least her scent would be strong.

"Shut up!" The man dressed as a waiter pulled his knife away from Finn's neck and stabbed him in the side of his ribs. "I'm not fucking playing around."

Finn groaned, and Aila's smirk dropped from her face as she glanced at her Delta with fire burning behind her eyes. Finn moved his head from side to side, unnoticeably to the men holding him hostage; she already knew what he was trying to tell her. But she was not about to let him die for her. Finn was her friend first, Delta second.

"Get up!" The man holding the knife against her throat didn't wait for her to move and instead began to pull her up by her hair again. As soon as Aila was standing, she felt herself being pulled backwards; she stared ahead at the patio doors hoping for someone to see. Instead, her heart dropped, the curtains had been drawn together, nobody could see what was happening outside, and the music was drowning out any noise created.

They had this planned, whoever they were. Aila found herself looking at the other men and women who had gathered around them as they all walked towards the woods. They kept Finn with them, he was the only reason she had not tried anything, and they knew it. She could smell his blood and hear his struggle for breath.

The atmosphere was tense; the only sounds were their breathing and their footsteps crunching into the ground. Each person glanced at the other but mainly stared at Aila. She used the time to figure out how to get out of the situation. There were guards posted all over the territory; did they kill them? They would have seen them by now, surely? Aila narrowed her eyes at the 'waiter' holding onto Finn; he seemed to be the leader of this group.

This group of six people- it was relatively small but easy enough to sneak into the party. Aila subtly checked for any tattoos on show at their wrists, but their clothing covered the area. Were they other werewolves or hunters? Her question was answered when they abruptly stopped in the middle of the woods, where the light scarcely trickled through the layers of trees and leaves. 

**

Inside the mansion, Damon stopped talking mid-sentence to his father after Darius barked through his mind, "The bond!"

Damon reached out through the bond and felt Aila's presence but nothing else. It was blocked and not from her efforts, and she had wolfsbane in her system! Without saying another word, Damon spun around and started searching for his mate through the crowds of people.

"Finn!" He reached out through the mind-link, but his voice echoed back to him. Finn had to be with her; he would have answered instantly or reached out to him.

"Chiara, Kane, where's Aila?" He barked through another mind-link as he began to panic.

"I haven't seen her for a while.." Chiara replied nervously. "We will look for her." His Gamma read his mind without needing to wait for his next orders. Damon stormed off through the crowds of people who parted after seeing his threatening gaze. All except for one person who stopped him momentarily.

Gabriel looked at him, and he knew from the steely look on his face that the vampire read his mind. He vanished from his sight, and for once, Damon was relieved to have a vampire around. Gabriel was quicker than the werewolves; he was sure to find her and help her.

Damon rushed towards the front doors, mind-linking the guards and werewolves on patrol. Their Queen was missing. The pack was on high alert; he ordered others to stay in their homes, protect the children and weak. He didn't know what to expect, but the least casualties, the better.

"Wrong way," Darius growled. The bond was murky but still strong enough for them to tell when they were getting further away from their mate. He turned around and ran around the side of the mansion. 

Multiple gunshots were fired, halting Damon briefly before he raced towards the trees.