HUNTED

Cassius turned back around, and she obediently followed behind him. He opened one of the doors Aila saw initially when she woke up. As they walked through it, it revealed a walk-in closet that extended to two different corridors. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before with high arched ceilings, another chandelier, white walls with those cherub statues in the corners of the room.

"Anything you need is down this row." Cassius handed her a remote control, pressing a button, and the wall slid away, revealing rows of clothes, ranging from coats to dresses, trousers, jeans, everything she could possibly need. "Behind you is for your accessories. Shoes, bags, watches, jewellery-"

"Where can I find leggings and a hoody?" Aila interrupted, forcing her eyes to look away from the range of designer clothes. It was all lovely, but it meant nothing to her. Wearing something comfortable and easy to move in was her aim.

She wanted answers, and she wanted her mate. Her chest kept burning, revealing the distance between her and Damon, his absence made her feel anxious, and she wondered if Cassius did something to him whilst taking her away from him. But she sensed through the bond he wasn't injured, but upset and angry, his despair clawed at her heart.

Cassius sighed and pointed to some drawers at the end of her side of the room. "A whole closet, and you go for workout gear? I hope you don't plan on running away," He joked though she could hear the small line of threat in his voice. 

Aila already foolishly attempted escaping earlier. She needed to be much smarter than that to deal with someone like Cassius. But how could she ever outrun an ancient vampire who could easily use mind control on her if he wished?

Cassius chuckled as he stepped into the open closet and murmured quietly, "There is no need to use compulsion."

His words made Aila's hands still on the leggings she pulled out from the drawer. What did that mean? Malia?

Wait..

Malia? 

Hello? 

MALIA!? Her mind echoed her voice back, almost like her wolf was gone.

Aila's heart started to pound vigorously in her chest as her wolf still didn't answer her back. Why wasn't Malia answering her? Aila looked down at her hands, watching as her claws grew from her fingers, and she sighed in relief. For a heart-shattering moment, Aila thought she was alone again, that her wolf had died. After all, she did die, right? 

But if Malia was gone, then the gift of her wolf would have disappeared. She reasoned with herself, calming her racing mind as she got changed.

Cassius strolled back towards her, wearing black trousers, a white shirt and a maroon waistcoat. He was clipping his cufflinks to his shirt sleeves and stopped before Aila, who was already in her leggings and a vest, holding onto a white hoody. 

Cassius' gaze swept over to the markings below her collarbone; both crescent moons flipped on opposite sides lined up one after the other. One indicates her mate bond with Damon, and the other reveals the blessing of the Moon Goddess. But his lingering gaze looked away as Aila pulled over the white hoody, hiding her frame.

"Can you.." The vampire touched his maroon tie. Aila narrowed her eyes at him, but she almost felt compelled to abide by his wishes. The feeling was strange, yet Cassius was not using compulsion on her; she wanted to help him with his tie. Why? He had hands and could tie his own damned tie. He was capable of it; he was asking for something a wife did for their husband.

Aila swallowed past the lump in her throat and stepped closer to him, avoiding his gaze as she started to sort his tie out. "Malia will return speaking to you by tonight." Aila flicked her eyes up to meet his at the mention of her wolf. "I want my time with you spent without the ramblings of your wolf in your head. It is tiresome listening to her as well as you."

"You could always get out of my head," Aila snapped, glaring at the vampire as she finished knotting his tie. She stepped away, but Cassius caught her hands and kept them on his solid chest. The feel of his hands sent a small buzzing feeling up her arms. 

Aila stared wide-eyed into his crystal blue eyes. What was this feeling? She tried to pull away, but Cassius kept her hands against him with his formidable strength. "I'm not always in your head, little wolf. But Malia's thoughts can be rather loud sometimes; it is almost like she is on speaker purposely insulting me. It is troublesome when I need your undying attention."

He wasn't wrong, Malia did insult him a lot, but she felt lonely without her. She sighed in defeat, not wanting Cassius to feel troubled; she didn't like that. She had a strange sense of wanting to make sure he was comfortable. Aila frowned at her thoughts, then nodded, pushing down her strange and warped feelings about the vampire who kidnapped her. "Fine. Explain yourself."

Cassius smirked and gestured towards the door. Aila sighed, feeling incredibly impatient from the vampire prolonging his explanation, but that was how Cassius was; he was quite dramatic at times. With those thoughts and her annoyance bubbling up inside of her, she stormed off, pushing the door open only to freeze on the spot when it slammed into the wall with a loud thud and cracking sound.

Aila slowly turned her head to the side and grimaced when she saw the door was at an angle, slightly off its hinges, with the wall now being marked with cracks and going upwards. In her irritation, she didn't realise how much power she put behind her arms; she didn't think it was that much.

"Don't fret. I can get it fixed. Try and stay calm, Aila. You are letting your emotions control your new powers at the moment," Cassius advised her as he grabbed her hand and started to lead the way. Aila tried to pull her hand away, but one glance from the vampire made her stop. The sensation of holding hands was somewhat comforting. She didn't like it.

Cassius pulled her through the golden double doors, and she looked around at the luxurious living room. The golden-white loveseats sat across from each other; a fireplace ran along the wall. More arched windows were opposite the fireplace, with long draping light blue and gold curtains to warm up the light décor of the room. Again, there were chandeliers, and the large room appeared to be adorned in old paintings that she knew cost a fortune. To the far corner was a desk with a large standing globe to the right of it and bookshelves behind it. 

Cassius led her to the sofas, and he sat down next to her, spreading his arms out, looking comfortable compared to her stiff posture and folded arms. 

"Answer my questions, Cass," Aila whispered, getting straight to the point. For some reason, she was already fatigued before even listening to him. But instead of it feeling like emotional fatigue, it was something else.

In fact, her throat was burning again, and she was hungry. Was she coming down with something? Maybe her near-death experience put more toll on her body than she thought. How long had she been out for?

That was when realisation crashed down on her like a ton of bricks. Cassius saved her; Amelia, her ancestor, was a vampire.. Davian.. Her thoughts started to swirl out of control as the growing hunger became unsettling. She licked her lips and kept swallowing.

"Aila, you are craving blood," Cassius replied simply. "Three days ago, you were on the brink of death before I fed you my blood. I am your master now. My blood runs through your veins.. You are officially a hybrid."

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