HUNTED

The next morning, Aila woke up with a killer headache. Her muscles were sore and bruised; any movement she made caused a singe of pain across her body. Her eyes squinted from the sunlight passing through the windows; if she drew the curtains the night before, she knew she would not be grumbling to herself right now.

She loved her sleep and being on top of a bed so comfy; she felt she would soon be one with it. Groaning to herself, she reached out and grabbed the nearest pillow, placing it on top of her head to hide away from the new day.

Unfortunately, her mind had other plans; she felt utterly awake now and knew she would not be going back to sleep any time soon. Pulling the pillow away from her head, she searched around the bed and stopped when her eyes landed on the alarm clock.

6:30 am.

Aila sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes. They arrived just past midnight the evening before, and with the events that led up to her escape, she knew she should have slept in and let herself recover. But she couldn't and knew she would regret that decision later in the day and would require a caffeine fix. Shrugging, she decided to get up.

Once she stood up, a wave of pain crashed through her body, mainly her ribs and her muscles tightened under the sudden use of her legs.

It's cool; nothing a little warm water can't fix.

Although she wished she was still high from the adrenaline rush the night before, that way, she could walk the small distance to the ensuite without stopping and hissing due to the pain. As soon as she made it to the bathroom, she opted to take a shower; although the bath was big enough to fit four people and looked irresistible, having a bath required her to climb in and out of it. This took little to no effort, but she knew it was not worth the aftermath of pain in her condition.

After she showered and got changed back into her worn clothes, she felt more refreshed; the heat from the water managed to loosen her muscles enough for her to walk normally again. However, it was no cure to the pain and headache she still felt.

Next stop: get some painkillers!

Aila left her room, her mindset on finding the kitchen and retrieving some painkillers. Yet, as soon as she stood outside her door in the hallway, she stopped and gazed at her surroundings, the natural light glimmered through the mansion, and she began to feel nostalgic. Aila recognised the hallway she stood in; glancing to the left, she saw a grand set of white double doors at the end of the hall. Frowning, she started to make her way to them, almost as is she was being called towards them.

Reaching her hand out, she turned the doorknob and nearly smacked her head into the door. It was locked. Glancing down, she noticed a key sticking out of the golden doorknob; turning it, the lock clicked, and she stepped through, gasping as she did so.

The room she stepped into was twice the size of hers, with four lots of floor-length windows and a set of clear white doors leading out to a balcony at the far end, letting natural light shine in on the room. Without needing to walk around the room, Aila knew that on one side, there was a walk-in wardrobe that then led to an ensuite bathroom with his and her sinks and a waterfall shower. On the opposite side of the room, another set of doors would lead to a private living room.

Stepping in further, she let her hand glide across the fireplace mantel, situated across from the canopy, super king-size bed, while her eyes glanced around at the room. Aila was not astonished by the room's extravagance or the fact that it deemed suitable for a royal family. No, her eyes were wide with shock as the room she stood in was her parent's bedroom. Her eyes flickered over to the bed with unshed tears as a memory fragment fazed in front of her.

A small, white-haired girl formed in front of her; she ran forwards, jumped on the bed with two bodies under the covers, groaning at the interrupted sleep. The girl, her younger self, began to giggle after a pair of hands reached out and brought her in between her parents for a three-way hug. The parents and child all smiled happily before her mother removed herself from the quilt and said she would make pancakes with her.

Her mother walked towards the door, hand holding the younger version of her; she vanished the moment Aila outstretched her hand. She shed a tear as the memory faded away, and she was the only one left in the room. Her mother's features lingered in her mind. She was a stunning woman; her white hair and blue eyes matched her own. Aila wiped the tear away from her cheek and inhaled deeply before walking towards the balcony doors.

They were also locked, but a key was left in the doorknob's deadbolt. Unlocking it, Aila stepped through, feeling the early morning sun on her face; the wind swept her hair back as she inhaled the fresh air. Walking forwards, she placed her hands on the balcony's white rough surface as she gazed across the garden that was big enough to fit a few football fields. Aila looked down after noticing more than a dozen men training on some rubber mats. Some were grappling each other, others were fighting skilfully, and further back, wolves were fighting each other.

Were they crazy!? It was 7 in the morning! On a SATURDAY!

Aila shook her head, turning around but stopped when someone caught her eye. Someone who wore nothing but shorts and trainers, their torso bare. Aila glanced around, making sure no one saw her; she leaned forwards onto the balcony and watched as Alpha Damon fought another well-built man. She watched almost in a trance at the two men fighting; it was clear within seconds that Damon was the better out of the two. Not only was he able to tackle his opponent with pure strength, but he was also agile, swiftly dodging attacks and pouncing on him instantaneously.

After ten minutes, Aila was now leaning her head on the side of her arms, comfortably placed on the balcony, her body crouched forwards. She watched as the sweat glistened off of Damon's broad back, the muscles flexing as he moved. His hair clung to his face while he made another quick move that ended with his opponent landing harshly on his back. Alpha Damon brought his hand down to help him up. They smiled at each other and joked around, but she could not hear what was said from her position.

He then picked up his water bottle and began to drink. Aila took that moment to trail her eyes down from his chiselled chest to his hard eight pack and lingered on the defined v's that dipped down to his shorts. She flickered her eyes back to his face and almost fell backwards with embarrassment as their eyes met.

Instead of hiding away, though, Aila felt her catch her breath as his eyes held her own; she could not free herself away from his intense gaze. Their eyes were still locked together as he brought the bottle back up to his lips, taking slow sips; she unconsciously bit her lip and watched as his eyes visibly darkened.

"So fricken hot."

He brought the bottle down and smirked at her. Did she say that out loud? Her eyes widened as heat rose to her cheeks; he could hear her from over there! This time she stood up and immediately turned around, hearing a laugh behind her as she walked through the balcony doors. She only slowed her steps to lock both doors of the master bedroom before quickly dashing back down the hallway.

Aila clambered down the stairs and turned a corner that led through the open reception area, abruptly stopping when she nearly ran into two men.

They turned around, revealing a clean-shaven Finn and Ajax. Aila gasped at Ajax's sudden change in appearance; his short hair was stylishly messy and his face clear of any beard, revealing his sharp jawline. Both men looked normal and did not resemble castaways anymore.

"Ajax, your hair is short! And your beard!"

"Shit!" He turned around and looked in the mirror behind him, touching his face and hair, mockingly, "That's not what I was going for when I decided to cut it all off.."

He looked back around with his eyebrow arched. Aila playfully punched his arm in which he clutched at it, pretending to be hurt.

"Seriously, you look so.." Aila trailed off as she took his new appearance in.

"Handsome? Sexy? Suave? I know." He winked at her, making Finn punch his arm a lot harder than she did.

Aila giggled in response, "I was going to go with tidy."

"Oh, let down!" Ajax threw his arms up dramatically, making Aila purse her lips with raised brows, trying not to laugh again.

"We seriously need to get new clothes, though. We still look like prisoners." Finn pointed out.

"With you on that one! I can pull off anything but grey coveralls?" Ajax shivered; Aila rolled her eyes at them then watched Finn as he walked away to the other side of the reception hall. His footsteps echoing on the clean marble floors.

Aila and Ajax followed him, both happy to roam freely without guards; they eyed up the impressive reception. Ajax continued to check his reflection out in the window, playing with his hair while Aila looked at a contemporary piece of art that she had no idea what it was about; she then turned to watch Finn abruptly stop in front of a painted portrait. Following his gaze, she made her way to his side.

There was a light shining underneath the golden frame, making the painting stand out along with a golden plaque. Finn turned his head to look at her, then back at the image and back at her again, a look of astonishment on his face.

"What's up with Finn.." Ajax trailed off once his eyes fell on the portrait before looking down at Aila.

Aila also held a look of shock, but it was not for the same reasons as the other two. The portrait was of her birth parents, standing proudly, side by side. Aila already knew she was a mirror image of her mother, but she was shocked and confused because, in the Silver Crescent Pack's house, there was a portrait of her parents still hanging on the wall. The Alpha and Luna were meant to have killed thousands of innocents and were murdered by their own pack.

Yet not only was there a portrait on the wall, but also fresh flowers in a vase on the mantel underneath it, along with many other flowers scattered on the floor.

After reading the plaque, the colour drained from her face.

It read:

In loving memory of the Alpha King and Queen of Silver Crescent Pack:

Alpha Titan Cross and Luna Alexandra Cross.

May the Moon Goddess look after their souls and they rest in peace.

-

Aila glanced back at the portrait one last time before turning abruptly on her heel, following a hallway through a grand living room, and ended up in the kitchen. She heard quick footsteps echoing behind her, but she did not slow down, already knowing that it was Ajax and Finn. She needed answers; she didn't care if it was seven in the morning, her parents were early risers, and they had a lot of explaining to do.

As soon as she made it to the kitchen island where her parents sat drinking coffee on the stools, her eyes gradually moved to the plates full of freshly made pancakes. Ajax and Finn immediately grabbed a dish, loading the pancakes up into high stacks before inhaling it as they sat down. Aila's resolve on her questions dipped as the smell of pancakes and syrup made her stomach rumble.

"You need to explain what the hell is going on." Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but Aila cut her off, "First, I need to eat. Then we are going to have a long-overdue discussion about lying in this family!" Aila pointed her fork between her parents before devouring her own pancakes.

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