Damon raked his free hand through his hair. "Fine. But by my side is where you will stay," He growled as he tilted her chin up and softly kissed her on the lips, deepening it further before he pulled away, his eyes glowing with need and wanting more. But the sound of close gunfire caught their attention.

Darren was running towards two fleeing hunters; he was in human form, wearing khaki shorts and a black t-shirt, aiming a gun at the men. But it seemed his aim was terrible while running at such a pace; luckily, two wolves appeared behind him and raced towards them, tackling the men down.

"Kill them quickly," Damon grunted. Although his voice was low, Darren and the others heard him clearly.

"Wait," At Aila's command, the werewolves stopped and looked at her. "Kill one of them. Leave the other alive and take him back to the basement."

On her command, only one shot was fired while Aila and Damon stared at each other. His eyes flickered into two glowing moons. She overruled his order, and the pack obliged by it. But after a tense ten seconds, Aila moved her eyes away from him, raking her fingers through her dirty white hair, "We need information-"

"That hunter won't know shit, Aila," Damon growled.

She turned her head and stared at him, his eyes locked on hers while standing there naked and pulling on some shorts from the bag given to him earlier. With little to no resistance on her part and lacking self-control, Aila let her eyes travel down the length of his body, taking in all the ripples of his abs and fine 'v' lines of his hips and back up to his solid muscular arms with the occasional vein bulging out.

Her eyes were devouring him like she hadn't seen him in years. Even though she'd already been in his arms and kissed, it seemed he would always catch her off guard with his strikingly handsome features. She bit her lip, taking that moment to fully appreciate the breathtaking man before her. He was all hers..

"Aila?"

"Hmm?" She glanced back up to his smirking face, wanting nothing more than to kiss those beautiful lips.

"The hunters left behind were left for a reason. Only to cause havoc and fight to survive. They aren't anyone of importance. If they were, they would have been long gone by now with their boss," Damon's smirk fell as his face hardened by his words, snapping her out of her daze.

"He's right," Malia added, taking their mate's side. Aila internally rolled her eyes; she was sure her wolf would take his side on everything.

Aila glanced between Damon and the back of Darren's figure, whose gun was pointed at the hunter's head. She could see her mate's face darkening the longer he looked at him. She, too, hated him, but she had to admit he had been helpful today.

"Should I kill him or not?" Darren asked over his shoulder.

"Kill him," Damon snapped, turning his fiery gaze onto Aila, waiting for her to argue. She pursed her lips and looked away as the gun fired. When she looked back, the man was on the ground next to his companion.

Aila took a step forwards, only to feel Damon's hand wrap around her arm and pull her back into his chest with a growl leaving his lips. Her brows arched up at the sudden action and feeling the heat of his skin under hers, but she shook her head from the immediate attraction she felt as her eyes locked with his.

"STAY," Damon commanded, his voice was deep, and his eyes glowed, burning into her. Aila tensed at the sudden rush of power cocooning over her to obey his command.

Her lips parted, and her eyes glowed back at him, pushing through the layers of thick command, challenging him. "Why?" She gasped. He had used his Alpha powers on her, and she didn't know why.

Without replying to her, his head snapped up. "Finn, now!" He barked.

Aila's brows drew together; Finn was meant to be getting Hollie. She watched as he reappeared stealthily, making it behind Darren and pointing his own gun at the back of his head.

She immediately ripped through the overbearing feeling of Damon's command; it felt like her muscles were tearing apart, sending shockwaves of pain through her body. She wondered how Finn did it so many times or how he did not resent her when she used her own power over him. It was not a pleasant feeling at all; she felt like a puppet.

Like a string snapping, Aila felt her body relax and a sense of freedom from Damon's order. She pulled herself away from his body. The tight knots in her stomach released as she felt the rush of power flourish through her veins, her eyes glowing brilliantly once more, but this time, to bark her own order.

"STOP!"

Finn's trigger finger halted, and she watched as his hand began to shake. The orders from two Alpha bloodlines were causing him to tense up and breathe heavily. Again, she wondered if Finn thought himself a puppet and resent her after this.

"Aila," Damon snapped, and she looked at him, her own eyes blazing, matching his. Crystal blue meeting molten silver.

"You made this decision without me," She snapped back with her hands shaking by her sides.

Damon marched forwards, his ripped abs and muscles flexing as he did so, but Aila snapped her eyes back to his face, ignoring his stupidly beautiful body. He stopped just before her, "I am your Alpha. I do not need to run everything by you."

Aila couldn't believe her ears as her mouth parted and her brows creased together in agitation, "I'm sorry, did that meeting with the Alpha's go to your head? I thought being your mate, your Luna meant something!"

Damon's chest began rising and falling heavily as she watched his arms flex from anger. He opened his mouth to reply, but she held her finger up to silence him and mind-linked the rest of her fury, "I am your mate—the other half of you, an equal that will help with the load of your worries. Or so I thought! Did you not trust me with this?"

Without letting him respond, she commanded again, "Finn, do not shoot Darren."

Finn sagged and relaxed his hand, bringing the gun to his side. It seemed a second-order ultimately overruled the Alphas. Darren spun on the spot, his hands raised, staring wide-eyed at the weapon in Finn's hand.

"Aila," Damon growled, but she raised her hand, not bothered by his threatening growl or bristling form.

"Darren has done nothing but help and be a part of the pack during this attack," She spoke the words softly as she locked gazes with the Delta. His jaw ticked, and he lowered his head, almost in shame. Aila's brows drew together by his action.

Malia growled across her mind, "Did you forget the part where he has been sleeping with Lydia! He's been against you as Luna for the pack from the beginning."

"But maybe that's his dick talking.." Aila retorted.

"Either way, he has tried to get rid of YOU!" Malia roared back at her.

Before Aila could respond, Damon gripped her by the top of her arms,

"He's the fucking reason for the rogues attacking!"