HUNTED

Aila was turned around, facing away from the mansion; she inhaled sharply at the man standing before her. A man she longed to kill. His eyes trailed the length of her, making her skin crawl, lastly landing on her eyes with a smirk crawling up his cruel face. He stepped forwards then halted, eying Finn and sighing, "Why have you not killed him yet? Must I do everything myself?"

"She is too strong. If we kill him, that's our leverage- ugh!"

Aila whipped her head to the side; the man held his hands against his throat, blood seeping down his neck and across his fingers. He fell to the ground gasping for air. The other men and women surrounding them suddenly dropped to the ground; their throats also ripped apart and started to bleed out onto the floor. Aila felt the knife against her throat relax then fall to the ground.

"Aila!" Finn rushed to her side, the man holding him also dying on the ground. But Aila was not paying attention to the men on the earth or who ripped their throats out. She knew it was probably Gabriel or Cassius. One of the twins now stood off to the side, checking his bloodied nails nonchalantly while Aila smirked at the last hunter left alive..

"Clint," She spat his name in disgust as she slowly stepped towards him.

"Aila, let me take care of him.." Finn trailed off after seeing Aila's eyes flash golden as she glared at him. "I erm will be here if you need me," He finished.

Aila didn't wait for another second as she lunged forwards, her nails extending, pushing through her limits of the wolfsbane burning through her body. Clint blocked her first two hits, but she quickly jabbed him in the side hard; she heard the sound of bones breaking and grinned. He wheezed after the blow and tried to strike her, but she blocked it and kicked him on the same side she broke his bones.

Clint staggered backwards.  "I see.. you got rid.. of .. my .. mark," He struggled to speak as he tried to breathe.

Aila lashed out, swiping her claws against his face. Leaving a claw mark down his cheek. "I thought I'd repay the favour and leave my own mark on you," She snarled. "Pity you won't live long enough for people to see it." Blood trickled down his cheek, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he grinned wildly. 

This made her furious; Clint was mocking her even now. She grabbed him by the neck, her nails cutting into his flesh and paused. Aila looked down at the sudden sharp pain shooting through her body. Clint stabbed her with a knife in her stomach; she growled and pushed him away before pulling the blade out. Gabriel and Finn reappeared by her side, but she held her hand up, halting them and jumped on Clint, pushing him to the ground as her canines sunk into his neck. 

Clint didn't so much as bat an eyelid. He swiftly reached around her and stabbed her in the back multiple times with another knife. Aila gasped and pulled away from his bloodied neck; she stood up and reached for the blade. In the time her hand clasped at the knife's handle, Clint reached for a handgun strapped to his side and shot her four times in the heart. 

"If I can't have you.. No one can," He grunted, then aimed higher at her head but was tackled to the side by Finn.

"Aila!"

Aila sunk to her knees to the blinding pain, causing her eyes to well up in tears. Black dots danced across her vision that started to gradually go blurry. She didn't know what was happening around her, but her body was in pain, and her head felt light. She was losing a lot of blood, that much she knew. Aila collapsed into the dirt listening to the sounds of gunfire and shouting, her head spun, and her breathing became hard. Her lids felt heavy-

"Aila!"

Damon... That's Damon's voice.

She forced her eyes open and stared at Damon, who now hovered above her. She could see his arms wrapped around her, keeping her close to his chest on the ground. But she couldn't feel his warmth. She stared up at his striking features; tears fell from his eyes and dropped onto her cheeks. She tried to raise her hand, but she felt too weak, her arm dropped, but Damon caught her hand and interlaced their fingers.

"Stay with me! Aila, the bond is slipping.. I can heal you," Damon croaked, his grip on her body tightening. Aila watched as golden dust-like particles began to shimmer from his hand and into hers. Aila gasped, finding an ounce of strength to yank her hand away from him.

"No, don't. You'll die," Aila said weakly. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"You're dying!" Damon roared his frustration. Aila hated seeing the despair on his face, she wanted to comfort him, but she was finding it so hard to stay awake. "I'm not about to let you die!"

"Maybe, it's better this way-"

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare give up on me now, Aila. You can't leave me! Not after everything we've been through," Damon grasped her face and kissed her on the lips, his thumbs stroking her cheeks as he stared back into her crystal blue eyes.

"The hunters will keep coming for me.." She trailed off before losing herself into his stormy eyes. "I've always loved your eyes." She took a shaky breath in. This was it, wasn't it? "You are the love of my life, Damon Steel. I'm glad I got to see you.. one last time.."

"Shh, don't say that, Aila," Damon croaked, his voice full of tears. His hands gripped her face, his eyes moving down her body at her injuries.

Aila resisted closing her eyes; she wanted to keep seeing Damon. But his features became blurry; all she could see were the outlines of his face, his hair and body. 

"Aila.. My love, you can't.. You can't leave me here.."

Damon was speaking to her, but she couldn't understand the rest of what he was saying, slowly his voice became distant until all noises vanished. Her eyes stung, and tears fell down her cheeks at not hearing him. At least she was in his arms in the end. If only she could feel his warmth.

Her body became numb to everything around her, the pain she felt dissipated, and she felt as though she was floating in some water. Her lids kept drooping until they finally closed as a sudden warm sensation washed over her like a cocoon enticing her into a deep sleep.

Aila's body went slack in Damon's arms. Damon stared at her for a heartbeat, his own stilling at the sight of his mate dying in his arms. He then looked around for a vampire. The last thing Aila would ever want.. But he couldn't let her die. Even if this made him a selfish man, so be it!

"Gabriel!" He screamed his name as he clutched his mate's limp body to him. The vampire pushed him aside, catching Aila in his arms and instantly ripped his teeth into his wrist, parting Aila's mouth and placing his bloodied wrist over her lips. The blood trickled down her chin and neck and onto her dress. She was a bloodied mess.

"Drink, dammit!" Gabriel cried.

Damon crawled back to Aila's side and listened intently to Aila's heartbeat. He held his breath to the decreasing beats; he barely paid attention to his surroundings. He knew right now Cassius or Gabriel was giving his blood to Aila; the other twin had returned with a bloodied face, his white shirt stained.

"Why didn't you give this to her sooner?" Damon growled; his eyes were following the slow rise and fall of Aila's chest and the beat of her heart. If she died, he knew he would lose his mind. Nothing would matter anymore.

Nothing.

Gabriel or Cassius did not answer; he was ignoring him. The vampire's hand caressed Aila's cheek, his gaze not moving away from her face. Damon snatched the vampire's hand away from her face, and he finally flickered his gaze away from Aila. "Do not interfere," He snapped as he pulled his hand out of Damon's grip.

"Cassius.." The other vampire stepped forwards. Damon inhaled sharply; he wanted to rip him into pieces; his emotions were now flickering between despair and rage.

Thump thump.

Aila's chest fell, followed by a silence that poured fear into Damon's being. He stared at his mate, his body rigid, his mind going numb in shock. Aila's heart had stopped. 

The blood wasn't working! 

Damon's body acted before thinking, and he interlaced his fingers with hers again, inhaling deeply, and poured his power and soul into her hand. A golden glow shimmered from his hand and began to flow through her forearm.

"Don't," Cassius warned him and ripped Damon's hand away. The Alpha snapped at him, baring his canines, and lunged towards him, but he was grabbed from behind by Gabriel, who held him back.

"I'm sorry, Damon," Gabriel whispered genuinely. The Alpha struggled against the vampire's strength then stopped as he watched Cassius lean into Aila and press his lips against hers like he was giving her a kiss. Damon growled and thrashed against Gabriel some more, even while blood trickled down the side of Aila's lips.

Thump thump.

Damon stopped moving and gasped. Cassius pulled away from Aila, his lips covered in blood as he stared down at her. Cassius looked back at Damon and Gabriel, a smirk forming on his features. Damon's blood ran cold; he stopped thrashing against Gabriel, who dropped his hands. 

Cassius picked Aila up, whose body flopped into his. He turned around, and in a flash, the pair was gone., leaving the forest empty before them.

The only remnants left that Aila was there was her blood coating the mud and grass. Damon growled, his voice vibrating the ground and trees; he shifted on the spot, letting his dark midnight fur sprout and his snout elongate. As soon as his four paws started pounding into the earth, he let Darius loose.

"FIND HER!"

{ Music Recommendation: The Other Side ~ Ruelle}

**

Authors Note:

This is the finale of volume one!

Thank you so much to everyone supporting my work and following Aila and Damon's story! I cannot believe I have actually finished a novel! I hope you have enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading volume two. There will be a break between the volumes so I can focus on my other novel - Heart Over Sword while working and commuting to and from London.  I will update my instagram when volume 2 will be released, I hope to start releasing in January 2022, but it all depends on my schedule! 

Again, thank you so much for reading one of my first ever works!

Kelly Starrz 

XOXO