HUNTED

Aila turned around and climbed the steps up before entering the mansion. Closing the enormous double doors behind her, she took a few steps that echoed across the marble floors. Although others were living in the mansion with her, it felt lonely in that moment of stillness.

"Lonely for now. Not for long! Pretty sure Damon will come find us about our 'bad' behaviour last night," Malia snickered, interrupting Aila's thoughts; she smirked at her wolf and began walking again with a light skip to her step. At the mention of Alpha Damon, she decided to make her way to the balcony to see what sort of training she would be ongoing. 

"More like to see how the Alpha flexes his muscles," Malia interrupted excitedly. Aila rolled her eyes; she knew that was more on her wolf's mind than her own. 

Although she observed how Malia acted differently than the night before. Her wolf was both excited and scared by the Alpha and his overbearing dominance. She waited for Malia to speak up, but for once, she stayed quiet, making Aila all the more suspicious at what her wolf was thinking. Malia somehow blocked Aila out of her thoughts; she shook her head, not even going into how that worked.

As she began to walk past her room, loud footsteps running from behind her made her tense and jump around swiftly, hands fisted out, ready in a fighting stance, "Oh", Aila relaxed once she saw Ajax and Finn laughing in front of her. 

"Good reflexes, but did you think we were going to mug you or something?" Finn chuckled at her reaction again before searching her eyes.

"I honestly didn't know what to expect," Aila admitted as she removed some of her white hair from her face and back behind her ear. 

Ajax tilted his head to the side, amusement flashing across his eyes, "Where were you going so early in the morning?" He queried.

"To see what training I will be doing. What about you guys?" Suspicion crept into her voice as she eyed the pair already covered in dried mud.

"We shifted- oof," Ajax elbowed Finn, causing him to glare back at him as he rubbed his side.

"We were also going to see how the pack trains-"

"We were?"

"Care if we join you?" Ajax ignored Finn's interruption and spoke confidently. Aila glanced between the pair, a little confused as to why they were covering up the fact that they shifted. Shrugging, she replied in a nonchalant tone, "Sure, why not." 

Turning around, Aila began walking in the direction of her parent's bedroom.

"Shouldn't we be going to the garden?" Finn asked, confusion mixed in his voice. Aila turned to see his hand up, thumb pointing behind him. She shook her head and gestured for them to follow her; Ajax and Finn glanced at each other before following behind her. 

"There is a better viewpoint from my parent's balcony," Aila trailed off as she led the way to her parent's bedroom. She watched as their mouths dropped at the luxurious suite.

"I keep forgetting that you're royalty. This room is fit for a king!" Ajax gasped in awe, his eyes wide in astonishment. Aila let them absorb how grand the room was while she opened the balcony doors. The sun warmed her skin immediately; closing her eyes for a fraction of a second, she soaked up its rays. Forgetting the weight of her worries for that single moment. 

Until a hand landed on her shoulder, disrupting her peace, Aila frowned at Ajax before sighing and walking to the end of the balcony. Once again, leaning onto the surface, she looked over at the pack members sparring and fighting roughly. Aila immediately sought out Alpha Damon and found him further away, his back to her as he walked arms crossed while he commented on each sparring partners forms and techniques. 

Aila sucked a breath in after he twisted his torso slightly to check on another fighting duo. There was a long bright red scar going from his 'v' muscle and up to his ribs. A frown formed between her eyes as she realised it was a brand-new scar, most likely from the night before. She wondered what actually happened the previous night. It was clear now, after checking out a few other men, that it was a rough night. 

"You're frowning again!" Ajax flicked her on the forehead, causing Aila to glare at him, "Woah, what's got you so worked up?" 

"From the looks of it, the pack took quite a beating last night. I want to know more about what is going on," Aila's face hardened as she continued to observe the other pack members before resting her eyes again on the Alpha. 

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about him. He's an Alpha for a reason. He can't be taken down easily." Ajax smirked while his eyes lingered on Alpha Damon. 

"From what I heard, it was a few rogues causing trouble," Finn mind-linked her, his voice cautious. Aila knew he didn't want the other pack members to listen to their conversation, although if they whispered, she guaranteed that they would not be able to hear them.  She nodded at him in response and leaned forwards more to watch training.

All three of them stayed to watch the training session for the entirety of the two hours. Aila was absorbed in the different techniques she presumed she would be learning. Finn and Ajax, near the end, began wrestling on the side, nearly smashing the plant pot that stood on the corner of the balcony. Aila was quick to scold them, causing them to stop their play fighting. Rolling her eyes, she began to turn around, preparing to leave until something caught her eye. 

The training session was over, yet some women stayed and began to gather around Alpha Damon, gushing at him and asking him questions even Aila knew the answers to. Malia began to seethe with pure jealousy, "They better back off."

Although Aila's eyes were piercing into the back of Alpha Damon's head, she replied calmly to her wolf, "He is not ours, and it's all harmless." 

Malia scoffed at her response, not convinced one bit by Aila's reasoning. The one person she could not lie to was her wolf; she felt everything she was feeling, and it was only her wolf expressing herself in her own way. But Aila knew her feelings were unreasonable. 

Ajax whistled in appreciation, his eyes looking at someone in particular. Aila followed his line of sight and saw a stunning woman with long raven hair that went down in curls to her waist. She remembered her earlier when Kane lectured her about her hair not being tied up after it was grabbed and she was pulled to the ground. 

Like the other females surrounding the Alpha, she had a lot of bare skin on show. But this woman, who sauntered her way to him, pushing others out of the way as she went, wore the shortest and tightest of shorts along with a tiny sports bra that pushed up her assets more on display. Granted, she had an incredible body any woman would dream of having. Even Aila gazed at her in awe. 

"How tacky," Malia growled. Aila was about to reprimand her until the woman openly touched Alpha Damon's scar, her face close to his. Aila's lips twitched in agitation.

"Aila!" Finn shook her abruptly.

Blinking, she looked at him, confused. She followed his gaze down to her arm and realised, where her arms were now crossed, her nails had elongated and pierced her skin. Blood began to trickle across her hands. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her fury at the woman and retracted her claws.

"Looks like they are trying to make a claim at the Alpha before you swoop in," Ajax joked, but his smile dropped when he saw Finn and Aila's glare.

Aila turned her back on the scene, unaware that Alpha Damon turned around after hearing her name and what Ajax had to say.

"Alpha's tend to get a lot of… attention until they are mated." Finn rubbed her shoulder up and down in a comforting manner, above the now healing wound. He then eyed her as her eyes began to glow with a low growl leaving her lips. She looked back at him and could see the gears turning behind his eyes as an idea formed in his head, "Unless you and Alpha Damon are mates?"

Aila scoffed and looked at Ajax, who wore a knowing smile. She frowned and looked back at Finn, "Ha, good one. You nearly had me there! We've already met. Pretty sure he would have 'claimed' me by now." She muttered, then pushed off from the balcony and walked through the bedroom doors. 

"You met before your wolf came through.. remember, there has been a block from your shifting powers." Finn continued as the pair trailed behind Aila's quick steps down the hallway.

"I highly doubt it." She held her hand up, stopping the pair from continuing with their bizarre theories, "Enough. I am going to the library."

"We'll come with!" Ajax piped up before skipping to her side and slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" She asked, her tone slightly annoyed.

"Ugh, Aila, you really do know how to wound me!" Aila gave him a pointed look, and he dropped the melodramatics, pulling his arm back from her shoulders, "No, actually. Finn is your guard, and I don't have any other friends here."

"So, you want to annoy me instead?"

"Exactly!"

"Interrupt me reading once, and I will kick you.. in the shin. Hard!" Aila warned him.

"Ohhh, scary," Ajax held his hands up in fake horror. Aila growled in return, causing him to roll his eyes, "Not gonna work on me, honey-"

"I know, I know. Shifters," Aila rolled her eyes. Although she wasn't using her domineering growl, it was more of an instinct to his disrespect. She wasn't even bothered by his commentary.

By this point, they were at the bottom of the stairs and walked down another hallway. One, the guys had not been down before. However, Aila's steps slowed down, a crease forming between her eyebrows as a fragment of memory surfaced. There were drops of blood on the floor before her and sprayed across the wall. When she looked down the hall, a body was slumped to the side.

Aila stopped abruptly and blinked her eyes; as quick as the memory came, it went. The guys nearly bumped into her while they continued to talk enthusiastically.

"Aila?"

She continued to stare at her surroundings. The body was gone along with the bloodied wall and floor. Ajax came into her view with a concerned look on his face. She shook her head and put on a smile, "Sorry, I forgot where the library was for a moment there. Silly me."

Ajax eyed her, the concern on his features apparent, but he flipped it to one of mock annoyance, "Well, try and lead the way properly! I don't want to get lost in this place, left to starve for days.. found and eaten by Alsatians… I haven't even had children yet!" Ajax continued with being melodramatic. Aila chuckled before zoning out from his rant while Finn sighed loudly, showing his annoyance. 

She continued and turned around a corner; her thoughts were going back to the blood she saw on the walls until all thoughts vanished, and she stopped her steps. Both men bumped into her this time, but she did not budge. Her eyes were locked with the raven-haired beauty from before, in her short shorts and sports bra. She was standing a step too close to Alpha Damon, whose broad back was facing Aila, Kane by his side, arms crossed. 

"Move out of the way, Lydia," Kane demanded. 

Lydia lowered her head but then looked directly at Aila again, a malicious smile creeping up her face. She took another step towards Alpha Damon and whispered into his ear, "But I want to continue what we were doing the other day after training," Her hand wrapped around his neck and into his hair, causing him to tense, "I'll even drop to my knees.."

Aila couldn't hear the rest of what was said. A ringing sound went across her ears while her eyes misted over with a blue hue, her claws extended, and a low growl escaped her lips. She watched as Alpha Damon grabbed Lydia's hand and yanked it away from him.

"Who's that bitch!" Malia roared this time though, her voice merged with Aila's, and the words left her mouth. Kane looked in her direction and paled when he saw Aila. She couldn't hear what Alpha Damon said to Lydia, but every time Aila looked at Lydia, her rage was all-consuming.

Malia wanted to rip her into pieces.