HUNTED

Damon straightened, clapping his hands together loudly and making the others jump in their seats and whip their heads in his direction. Gabriel and the vampires were the only ones who looked at him, bored and unimpressed. 

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go now," Damon demanded, turning on the spot and about to march down back down the hallway, but Kane blocked his path. 

"Alpha." He began with his title, lowering his gaze in respect, but it still made Damon's chest rumble in warning because he knew Kane was about to go against his orders. "We all want to get our Luna back. But-" Damon growled again as he clenched his fists shut, refraining from snapping at his friend. Kane cleared his throat. "We would be at a disadvantage going now. Everyone is tired and hungry," Kane reasoned. "And the sun has gone down; if there are other vampires, they won't be restricted like usual."

Damon raked his hands through his raven coloured hair, inhaling deeply and releasing a long breath. He knew Kane was right, and if he was in more of his right frame of mind, he would not be so erratic in his decision making. Damon reached out and patted Kane on the shoulder. 

"You are right. Thank you. We will go in the morning," He thanked his friend and released his shoulder before he sent a mind-link to his butler and workers to arrange a BBQ for everyone. It was quicker and easier to do for numerous pack members who decided to stay in the mansion for the night. Kane had already ordered them to rest in whatever free guest room there were. 

"On it, Alpha." A small group mind-link was sent back from the workers. When living in such a large pack, their food storage was constantly being filled up on a daily basis, and his workers cooked food whether he ordered them to or not. It was only when he made requests that the food would be switched up specifically to his or the pack's needs. 

"Plus," Ajax began, making the Alpha turn his head and sigh audibly at what was expected to be another comment that would get under his skin. 

"You still need to shave and get some beauty sleep to look more like your handsome self." He winked and smiled broadly at him. Chiara nudged her shoulder into Ajax's side, frowning at him intentionally. "What? We are all thinking it. You know." The shapeshifter stood up, putting his hands in his jeans. "We WANT Aila to return. She won't if she saw what a sorry state you are looking- eek!"

Damon took two giant, thunderous steps towards him, his eyes glowing and a growl resonating through the walls. But Ajax disappeared into a heap of clothes on the floor by Chiara, and he knew the shapeshifter was already down the hallway making his escape. He'd transformed into a little mouse again. 

Everyone froze as they all could hear Ajax's feet scurrying across the floors before the breaking of bones started to echo back to them, and his gait changed to two bare human feet sauntering up the stairs like he had no care in the world. Damon didn't have the energy to chase him down, nor the patience he needed to finish up here. He looked at Chiara expectantly.

"What?" She asked aloud, glancing at the various faces in the room, their gazes on her. 

"You know what," Damon sighed, his eyes flicking down to the pile of clothes on the floor. 

Chiara sighed and collected them with a slight blush growing on her cheeks. "I suppose I should go tell him off as none of you want to put up with his antics," She excused herself, abruptly standing up and marching furiously after the shapeshifter. 

Damon had to hold back the laugh forming on his lips. Chiara's excuses to see Ajax were getting increasingly worse. He hoped for everyone's sake she would admit to their relationship soon. If Ajax made her happy, then he wasn't going to oppose it, no matter how annoying he found him. Though he knew it had more to do with the loss of her mate than the gossip of others, Chiara was the Gamma for a reason and didn't take any bullshit. 

Damon glanced back at Esme after thinking about Xander, Chiara's mate, who died at the hands of rogues. He wondered if sending Esme away would be better for her. 

"She stays." Gabriel glared at him, surprising the Alpha further about the protectiveness in the vampire's voice.

"I'm her King, and I decide whether she stays or goes. If her presence is making.. is making my pack uncomfortable-"

"I am quite certain my presence makes everyone much more uncomfortable, and don't you mean the Gamma. If I am to help you, Chiara will need to get over it."

Damon clenched his teeth together, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he glared back at Gabriel. "You do not have the authority-"

"Esme is MINE," Gabriel hissed back, the red specks in his crystal eyes glowing brightly. 

His? Damon's eyes widened, and he looked back at the she-wolf, who seemed unconcerned by what the vampire was saying. No.. Gabriel didn't mean..

"Yes. I did," Gabriel responded in Damon's mind as he held his gaze.

"How? She already has-"

"Not anymore," Gabriel replied sharply, cutting him off before changing the subject. "And stop coddling your Gamma. She is a big girl and something like this is good for her. She has Ajax to comfort her," He continued in his mind, more than likely to keep Chiara and Ajax's 'secret'.

The vampire readjusted his tie, loosening it and undone the top two buttons of his shirt. The small action didn't go unnoticed by the she-wolf behind him; her gaze lingered hungrily on his slightly exposed skin. 

Damon shook his head, their relationship solved a few issues Esme caused the werewolf community, so it wasn't something he needed to worry about. "Fine," Damon spoke aloud, gaining the attention of the room again. They knew the two Kings were talking privately and had stayed quiet the whole time. 

"But how can Esme help?" Damon asked genuinely. He never looked down on anyone, but Esme had been missing/ on the run for over two years. She couldn't even mind-link them. Would she be helpful? 

"Looks are deceiving, Alpha," Esme spoke up, pushing off from the wall and making her presence more known to the others. Unlike before, when she seemed to purposely keep herself small and unnoticed. "I can prove myself, and when I do, you will add me to your pack."

"What!?" Both Damon and Gabriel exclaimed and looked at her in surprise.

"You heard me. You know I've been in a pack before, so don't act like I am some crazy, bloodthirsty rogue.." She looked off to the side mischievously for a moment with a slight smirk. "I may be a little scary, but I will work for you. Keep me in your pack until you no longer need me. It will be easier for me to mind-link others that way."

"And if I refuse?" Damon questioned, eyeing her suspiciously. Why did she want to help so bad? The last time he spoke to her, she could barely stand staying in the same room as him. 

Esme shrugged nonchalantly. "Then everything will take much longer in communication, which is stressful in such tense situations. It's your loss if you say no, but it's up to you. It was only a suggestion."

Damon stared at her for a long minute, thinking about Chiara and the others in the pack. It wasn't rare for packs to accept new members, but it was pretty uncommon for a rogue to be accepted unless that rogue was somebody's mate. Damon released his breath. "We will leave tomorrow for Maine, prove yourself useful and then I will think about it." 

He said this but knew his mind would be more fixated on seeing his mate. With that thought, he looked back at Gabriel, who still seemed irritated by Esme's decision. "I will use the same groups I took today. It's not large enough to call attention to us if he has spies around.." He looked off thoughtfully, a flicker of anger boiling in his chest at the idea of seeing Cassius the next day. "But will they be enough to take on whoever is at the castle?"

"Bring them, I have Luther and Vinnie as well, and I can call on another vampire to come," Gabriel replied. Damon nodded; if he couldn't take down Cassius, he knew Gabriel could. 

Couldn't he?