HUNTED-Chapter 335: Broody

The reporters kept asking Chase question after question, but he breezed past them with a charming smile and great answers. Once he was done, the news jumped to another live scene of some of the public and their views on the matter.

"For all we know, there are more aliens out there!? How can we trust the government and these hunters when they’ve kept these creatures a secret for so long?!" A man raged at the camera.

"I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt. They have been hiding and not making a nuisance so far-"

"That’s what you think!" Another man interrupted the woman who had been all for the supernatural creatures. "We don’t know how many of us they’ve killed. They’ve probably been covering up their tracks!"

"From what I saw of that video that went viral, these hunters helped solve whatever was going on between those things. I think we just need to see how this plays out."

On and on, the public said their pieces to the camera, for and against the supernatural creatures and the hunters and the government. Aila didn’t really know what against meant. Did that mean there was going to be another world war between humans and supernatural creatures?

Aila put the subtitles on and muted it. The room remained quiet for a moment before Damon spoke up. "Their reactions are better than what we were expecting. Chase has given us some time. All we are waiting on is to hear back from Einar and for Gabriel’s return."

"When will he be returning?" Beta Kane asked from his spot on the floor beside Nairi. He began to stand as he looked at Damon and Aila. "It’s already been two weeks, and we haven’t heard from the leech. Has the rogue? Esme? Or those bloodsuckers he’s left on pack territory?

We can’t wait for much longer."

"It is going to take time to organise a meeting of everyone anyway," Aila said, unable to give the room of pack leaders a definite answer. Still, they looked at Damon and Aila for guidance. Had it only been two weeks since she’d been in that castle, wanting to escape and help the lycans?

"No one is particularly fond of being in a space together. Nobody seems to like the vampires. The vampires don’t like anyone, though Gabriel does put up with me and possibly that warlock, Einar? Chase is wary of everyone, probably including those government officials.

The point is we need to make sure everyone is available with at least a pinch of trust. If we don’t work together now, then I can’t see it ever resolving, and people, not just the hunters, will hunt us down."

"Then we should be patient," Finn added when nobody could respond to Aila.

"I hope this isn’t turning into a fucking habit of his," Damon growled. "Last time, I had to wait for Gabriel, and now we are this time."

Aila rubbed Damon’s bicep soothingly. "Gabriel is dealing with his brother. It’s not like he is doing it on purpose." She knew Cassius wasn’t dead yet, and it had been weeks. Both hope and dread were beginning to simmer in her chest.

Hope because, in Aila’s heart, she didn’t want her master to be killed. She knew it would hurt her, even after everything Cassius had done. But then she worried he might have done something to Gabriel, and he was returning to finish what he started. Though, Aila knew he couldn’t swoop in and do anything now.

The small army he had begun creating was killed off or taken away for torture in Gabriel’s tower, as she was starting to call it. Cassius had nothing to return to, and because of his exposure to the human world, he might even have many after him. Gabriel would have to make an announcement that it was not him but his twin brother.

It wasn’t hard not to believe. There was still some video footage of the brothers facing off. Both outside the hunters’ headquarters and when they were at Cassius’ castle.

But Aila then remembered that Esme would notify them or most likely disappear if something happened to Gabriel. The she-wolf was used to working alone and, instead of confiding in them, would most likely go ahead and search for him. That hadn’t happened so far, so she forced herself to believe Gabriel was fine.

"If you keep worrying over him, I’ll start to get jealous," Damon murmured in her ear. The slight rumble of his chest and the glow of his eyes showed how serious he was. Aila still found it funny, though.

"You know my eyes are only on you," she replied and blinked profusely after hearing Ajax’s fake gag. She narrowed her eyes at the shapeshifter. "Aren’t you a little old to be doing that now? Chiara, sort him out."

She winked at the Gamma, whose cheeks went slightly pink. "I don’t mind if she does," Ajax smirked before nudging the side of Chiara’s neck with his nose.

Damon made a face at the pair, but Aila could tell through the bond how happy he was to see Chiara happy, even if it was because of Ajax. But she could also feel a slight fondness and warmth towards the shapeshifter. Something that hadn’t really been there before she’d ’gone away’.

Ajax had just been like an annoying acquaintance Damon had put up with before. Now it seemed like he looked at the shapeshifter like an annoying younger brother.

"Alright, should we go eat?" Aila asked though she already knew the answer. Everyone jumped up almost simultaneously and started to go to the dining room. The pack leaders were like a small family within the large family, the pack.

Somehow Ajax and Finn were bickering like children again, while Chiara shook her head and scolded her boyfriend and not the werewolf who started it. Was boyfriend the right term for Ajax? Aila felt like they were much more, but she was so used to using the term mate now that ’boyfriend’ just didn’t sit right.

"Aila, stop having another one of your moments," Finn joked. She had been standing in the doorway of the dining room, watching everyone. She ignored the Delta for a moment as her eyes landed on Damon.

He was already watching her, his eyes heating the longer she stared at them. Warmth flooded her chest, and butterflies still fluttered in her stomach. "Will you come inside now, mate?" Damon asked, no purred with a smirk. It made those butterflies fly flutter even more and heat delving to her core.

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"Coming," Aila replied and followed to her seat at the end of the table next to Damon.

Once they had their meal, their group dispersed for the night, each to their own thing. A few were returning to their rooms, and others were on patrol, like Beta Kane. Finn was calling his mate, and Nairi and Chiara were having a girls’ night. As much as Aila wanted to join them, she still felt a weight on her shoulders and felt too stressed to really enjoy a girls’ night.

Damon was helping her with the destressing side of things, and she was not complaining about that.

"No, we are not," Malia smirked. "Never will."

"Your majesty."

Aila paused by the stairs and felt her heart squeeze at seeing Aldric returning. In the time they’d spent the evening having a meal and chatting happily, the lycan’s hair was cut short and combed back, and he was now clean-shaven and wearing shorts with a tightly fitted shirt. Parts of his tattoos were still on display.

He looked intimidating, but Aila knew him well enough and could see the kindness in his brown eyes to know otherwise.

With a sigh, she hugged the lycan. "You better stay in touch. I want to know everything. When things have settled here, we’ll visit, or you visit us, and I’ll get to meet your wife and your children."

She squeezed him tighter and noted Harry and Davian lingering by the front doors. "I will. Thank you, Aila. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be in a compound being experimented on or dead. Now, able to shift again, I can return to my girls and my little boy," Aldric said before releasing her.

Again, Aldric respectfully shook Damon’s hand. Somehow, compared to his usual steely and wary nature of other Alphas, Damon had warmed up to him in a short time. "You’re welcome here anytime," Damon added to show he was fine with another male friend visiting Aila.

It was possibly because he had a wife and children to return to, or Damon might have relaxed on his possessive Alpha nature. Well, only a smidge, anyway.

"Text me when you arrive!"

Aldric stopped and smirked by Harry’s side, shaking his head.

"Keep acting like that, and I’m going to put a baby in you right now," Damon whispered into her ear as his hand slid across her stomach. She felt the truth behind his words through the bond. She’d been acting like Aldric was her child or something, and it was making her mate feel broody.

Her cheeks heated at that. She wasn’t against the idea; she wouldn’t mind a mini Damon or mini Aila running around, but not yet. She was too young, and a young queen about to take on the south, along with the world was a mess right now. Nope, that was a lot to take on.

"I’ll be back to see your pups," Aldric winked at the Alpha couple and left through the doors with Harry by his side.

Damon grinned, his mind still on making babies. He bent over suddenly and picked Aila up, throwing her over his shoulders, smacked her backside and started running up the stairs. All she could do was squeal and kick her legs in delight.