HUNTED

They walked through to the dining room Aila went to previously, but this time was led to her own seat. She didn't refuse his silent command and sat down quietly after receiving a stern look from him beforehand. Damon sat at the head of the table, while Aila sat to his right and Beta Kane to his left with Nairi and Chiara, followed by Darren, who kept himself quiet as he sat next to the Gamma.

That left Ajax and Finn, who sauntered in next after Aila mind-linked Finn to hurry up. The pair looked a lot better outside of their coveralls or shorts and t-shirt. Ajax sat next to Aila, causing Chiara and Nairi to tense slightly as he slung himself down and smiled broadly at Damon. 

He looked good in jeans, a button-down navy shirt that he left three buttons undone, revealing some of his toned chest beneath. Finn stuck to a black t-shirt and jeans and stopped mid-stride next to where Ajax sat and looked nervously to the Alpha at the end of the table. Ajax looked back at Finn, who showed mild annoyance by his carefree attitude and the smile on his face.

Aila smiled at the pair in greeting, feeling more comfortable with their relaxed presence but then looked away after Damon's hand found its way onto her knee and gripped it tightly. Aila looked at him questionably, but he was not looking at her; his gaze was on the newcomers. 

As Finn sat down next to Ajax, Damon looked across the table before asking politely, "Chiara switch seats with Ajax, please." 

Chiara immediately stood up while Ajax almost choked on the water he was drinking and looked at Damon with furrowed brows, "Is there something wrong with me sitting here?" 

Aila looked at Ajax, baffled by his questioning. She had to remind herself that he was not a werewolf, and although Damon had a robust and authoritative presence, he couldn't actually force his Alpha commands onto him. Damon's grip on her knee tightened even more, and she knew from his fingers alone, there would be a bruise forming on her skin. She looked back at Damon and saw his eyes swirling a molten silver, flickering ever so lightly. 

"Yes. Now move," Damon snapped with a low growl. 

His tone sent a shiver through Aila, but this one was more out of annoyance than anything else. What was wrong with Ajax sitting next to her? Although she knew it would annoy him, she didn't think he would boot him to another seat. She literally kissed Damon upstairs, and now he had his hand on her knee and demanded another man not to sit next to her. Surely his jealousy wasn't this silly?

"Aila," Malia warned, already seeing where her thoughts were leading her.

Ajax scraped his chair back and stopped when Aila spoke up.

"Ajax," Aila kept her eyes locked on Damon as she spoke, "Stay where you are. There is no need for you to move."

Damon's eyes darkened, and a low growl escaped his lips, sending a small vibration across the table. The dishes and glasses clinked together while Damon and Aila looked at each other, neither wavering their gaze. She could almost feel the tension rising in the air as the others looked on at the pair in shocked silence. 

"Alpha? Luna?" Gamma Chiara questioned. 

Aila felt terrible as their Gamma was given a direct order from her Alpha, but she wanted to make a point and allowed Ajax to sit next to her. And why shouldn't he? Malia moaned in her mind at Aila's stubbornness. She would have been better for Damon, someone who submitted to his every order and whim, whereas Aila would disobey him at anything she didn't agree with. On this occasion, she disagreed with him; he needed to calm down and stop being so possessive. Ajax was only sitting next to her, nothing else.

"If you want your friend to live. I suggest you don't undermine my order.. Mate," Damon growled ferociously through the mind-link as his hand clasped on her knee aggressively; she could feel his rage vibrating through her leg where his hand shook. His words alone made her relent immediately, and she dropped her eyes from his.

"Good. Ajax, Chiara, switch," Damon ordered aloud while he kept his eyes on Aila, who was now looking at her plate in front of her while they changed chairs. She was seething with anger, but she couldn't let her stubbornness be the reason for Ajax's death. 

Even though her mind and body fought each other about Damon and his domineering ways, she still had to remind herself that he was an Alpha of the most feared pack in the world. The day she met him, he shot someone in the head without flinching. Granted, he saved her life, but it was another reminder of how their worlds were so far apart. However, that little fact did not stop her from speaking her mind to him. 

"Jealousy doesn't look good on you, Alpha," She mind-linked him, meeting his penetrating gaze once again. 

His grip on her knee lightened, and slowly his hand slid up to her mid-thigh, causing her to inhale sharply as tiny tingles shot through her body.  All the while, their gazes were locked, and his own was darkening by the second from dominance and lust. 

"There's nothing to be jealous about. You are mine," He growled back through the mind-link. 

Aila gulped slightly; her mouth felt dry from the strong pull she felt towards her mate. Damon didn't miss that small action as his eyes lazily went from her bare neck and back to her face. She licked her lips that caused him to growl aloud, making the others glance in their direction mid eating. The pair's power struggle was sending surges of power that caused the dinner guests to shift uncomfortably on their seats. 

Even Beta Kane and Nairi, who always seemed in their own world, looked in the pair's direction. However, they weren't looking at them in concern but were grinning and gave each other knowing glances before returning to their food. 

"I won't be if you keep acting this way." Aila snapped back at him. Malia whined at what she was suggesting; her wolf was distraught even by her words. Aila watched as Damon's eyes flickered with hurt before they glowed and darkened at the same time.

"I won't let you reject me, Aila." His voice was deadly, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. 

Aila's eyes began to glow as she replied, "How would you stop me? It's my choice."

The challenge was evident in her voice over the mind-link, but Damon only narrowed his eyes. "Because you'll be marked the moment you start that sentence." He snapped. His voice deepened, even more, indicating that Darius was close to the surface again.

"Stop playing games with us, Aila," Darius took over as Damon's eyes glimmered. His grip on her thigh tightened once again before sliding further up and closer to her core. Aila's eyes widened before she glanced around the table. The only pair of eyes she met were emerald-green, but she quickly looked away, not wanting Darius to straight-up kill Ajax at dinner. 

"She didn't mean it!" Malia ripped through the mind-link, slamming Aila to the back of her mind. She was annoyed even more now by the interruption. Damon and Darius's possessiveness needed to take a chill, and she needed to show him how serious she was. Of course, she would not reject him, but she didn't want them to know that!

"What are you doing!?" Aila gasped at her wolf for ruining something she had barely begun.

"Making sure you don't piss him off so much that he would force you into this! You'll end up hating him, and I couldn't stand to see yourselves put through a lifetime of misery. Stop being so stubborn," Malia scolded her. 

"Malia," Darius breathed huskily, "my darling." 

Damon moved his hand away from her thigh and caressed Aila's chin adoringly. His eyes went back to their normal, strikingly silver eyes; he kept his hand on Aila's chin and searched her eyes. 

"Please send Aila back. It is her who I have an issue with. I promise you and Darius can go for a run tonight." Damon's voice had returned to normal, even softer towards her wolf. Aila tried not to roll her eyes. She started to believe that he really did need a more submissive mate and not her.

Malia relented and let Aila retake the reins; her eyes immediately hardened, and his grip on her chin became tighter as he leaned in closer to her, so they were but a few inches apart, "Do not threaten me about such things. You do not know what you talk of." He somehow came even closer to her, to the point that their noses were now touching, "I can already feel the bond pulling us together to make it official. If you struggle against it, it can become painful, and if you reject it…" He trailed off as he searched her eyes. Her heart clenched at even suggesting rejecting him.

Aila's crystal blue orbs softened as she realised how much she genuinely hurt him. Maybe they were doing everything wrong? She was used to not answering to anyone but herself, and he was used to getting his way without any backchat. He let go of her chin dismissively and grabbed his knife and fork, ripping into the steak aggressively on his plate.

Aila twisted in her seat slightly to face her own food- steak, chips, and some vegetables on the side; she began to eat tentatively and did not raise her eyes throughout the meal. Finn and Ajax both glanced in her direction plenty of times that made Alpha Damon narrow his eyes at them. She was not sitting quietly from defeat, more so from being deep in thought. 

"You okay?" Finn asked via mind-link.

Aila continued to chew on her steak as she replied, "I'm fine. Does everyone know we were.. having a disagreement?" 

Finn chuckled, "Oh, we could tell, alright. I'm pretty sure the whole pack knew you were."

"What do you mean?" Aila accidentally glanced his way, revealing their secret conversation to Damon and Chiara. Damon tried to mind-link her, which felt as though he was muffling Finn's voice out.

Finn replied after Aila 'pushed' Damon away in her mind, "What I mean to say is that both of your powers as Alpha's was charging us with energy to get ready for a battle! It was so weird and exhilarating at the same time. I wasn't sure if you were going to fight each other or romp each other!"

"Finn!" Aila gasped in response. She stopped cutting into her steak abruptly, causing her cutlery to make a slight 'clink' noise. She looked around, but the others continued to talk with one another, except Darren, who cut angrily into his food. Finn chuckled in response before returning to his own food and chatting happily with Ajax. 

Aila glanced at Damon and done a double-take, not realising that his brooding gaze had been on her the whole time she was mind-linking Finn. He drank from a glass of what appeared to be whiskey and stared at her as he did so. Aila looked back at her food and tensed when she felt his hand once again on her thigh, but this time it slid up her thigh slowly, making small circles as he did. 

She looked back at him and saw the dangerous glint in his eyes and the smirk forming on his annoyingly beautiful lips. 

Oh no..