6: Aiden

Mark her...

His Wolf growled deeply within his mind, applying just a bit of pressure to make his presence known. He looked into her eyes, seeing the clouds reflect in them as if her eyes were the sky itself. Strands of her white hair swayed and danced across her face, her appearance practically angelic until his eyes rested on her soft pink lips. His hand came up to rest on the side of her neck, his thumb brushing over her lips slowly. He watched as her eyelids fluttered from the electric touch he gave off, her breath escaping her.

Mark her...

His Wolf growled more persistently which confused Aiden. His thumb stopped just off the side of her lips as they parted slightly. All he had to do was lean in and kiss her, and the rest would be history.

She's a Hunter...

He stopped himself as his conscious warned him suddenly. He looked down at the woman beside him, her eyes having shut now and waiting for him to close the gap. He retracted his hand and shifted his position so that he was sitting just a bit from her. Her eyes opened and the look of confusion on her face pained him. His Wolf growled angrily, the sound rocking his brain before it fell silent.

"Ask your questions." He told her more coldly than he intended. Amira raised a brow at him, adjusting the skirt of her dress as she folded her legs over one another.

"Right." She cleared her throat as she casted her gaze out over the still water, "How many of you are there?" She asked him, getting straight to the point.

"Excuse me?"

"How many Rogues live here?" She rephrased her question.

"Rogues?" He questioned, "Right, I guess that is what am, isn't it? There's only three of us. My mom, grandpa and myself."

"Are you the Alpha?" She asked, adjusting her sitting position to sit on her knees, her hands flatting the skirt down over her thighs. His ears perked up at the sound of a knife slowly rubbing against leather as it's being unsheathed.

"An Alpha? That's funny." He chuckled lightly, seeing her hesitate out of the corner of his eye, "Was that not the answer you were expecting?"

"Well, no. I was just told before heading up here that there was an Alpha in Darlow, or at least possibly anyway." She mentioned.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but whoever told you that misinformed you. It's just been us three since I was nine. I have no desire to being an Alpha anyway, I'll leave that to the old bastard." He gritted his teeth as he says that, his hand gripping the grass beside him, tearing out some of it.

"Old bastard?" She questioned him, tilting her head. Her hair fell over her shoulder like a graceful waterfall of snow.

"My father." He grimaced at even mentioning the relation, "He's the Alpha you're looking for." He held up a hand when she opened her mouth, "I don't know where he is nor do I care. If you want to speak with him, you'll have to find another way." He told her, his ears picking up the whistle of the blade slicing through the air and just barely missing his cheek. He grabbed her wrist, flipping her over him and plants her on her back, his hand pinning her weapon down, "You'll need to do better than that."

Amira glared at him, twisting her legs around his and rolled him onto his back next. She flipped the dagger up, catching it with her other hand and stabbed down toward his neck, but he managed to wiggle aside just in time for the blade to strike the ground beside his throat. He felt the tickle of the cut as the blade sliced his neck like a paper-cut, but then the intense burning followed right after. He growled, his canines bare as he fought against the pain.

Silver...

He knocked her hand away, pulling the knife out of the ground and tossed it into the water. She gasped, glancing back to see it sink out of sight, giving him enough time sit up and grab her hands, pinning them behind her head. She looked back at him, the look in her eyes halting him. She looked like a deer in headlights, her hands lightly trembling in his grasp. For a moment she looked like a regular human woman, not someone who just seconds ago attempted to kill him.

"How long have you been a Hunter?" He asked her. She turned her face away from him defiantly, "You got to ask your questions, it's only fair that I ask mine now."

She slowly sighed, "I've been a Hunter since I was ten." She admitted to him, her eyes evading his though.

"How long have you been on your own?" He asked her, but she didn't answer right away, "Amira."

"Only a couple of months." She whispered. His grasp eased up on her hands, slowly releasing them. She rubbed her wrists gently once they were freed.

"You've only been out on your own for a short time and believed you could take out a Werewolf?" He asked her while gesturing to their surroundings, "In a desolate place where you have no back up?"

"I needed this!" She nearly shouted, "I was never allowed to go out on my own. I was always stuck with a small group or Jax while out hunting." She tried to get off of his lap, but his hand on her thigh stopped her. He felt the goosebumps where his hand was, the shock of their bond sending a delicious wave to his groin. It effected her all the same, her hips swaying against slightly. He swallowed hard at the predicament he was in.

"So taking out the Vampire by yourself was your way of initiation?" He brought up, seeing her flinch a bit.

"He was a target I was given. I had it under control." She finally looked over to him, "By the way, why did you intervene? And how long did you know what I was?" She bombarded him.

Aiden let out a sigh, "Can we continue this over dinner?"

She raised a brow, "You still want to have dinner with me?" She asked as she got up from his lap. He spied the white lacing of her panties, groaning internally as he climbed to his feet next.

"I already made the plans, and I believe we both have plenty of questions that still need to be answered." He told her honestly, peering over to her as she brushed the grass off of her dress. He eyed her throat, his Wolf growling insistently again, but he pushed the animal aside and started walking back toward the path they had taken. The gentle breeze brushed through his black hair, tousling it a bit. He wished it was his fur it brushed through instead.

He peered over his shoulder to see her following behind him, but her eyes were looking out over the water. The breeze made her hair dance like a glorious blizzard. She tucked her hair behind her ear, but to no avail it continued to sway about. When he gazed at her eyes, he could see the dark shadow of loneliness reflect in them. He recognized it easily.

Had she been left behind while others walked ahead of her?

He slowed down his pace a bit until he matched with her. He turned his attention ahead, but he could feel her eyes on him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

If she wasn't a Hunter, would things play out differently?

----------

He pulled into a small parking lot that sat beside a bar and grill. The red and white overhang shaded the tables of the patio where a few bikers were chatting and smoking their cigarettes. There were bricks missing in various places, but overall it appeared to be in decent shape for a building that had been around for decades with little to no renovations for the outside. When he stepped inside, it was like walking through a time dimensional portal. The bar area was dimly lit with already a few day drinkers. The large flat plasma screen debuted a baseball game with the volume set on low as the pedestrians spoke among themselves about the shitty play that just happened. The bartender glanced up from behind the bar, the reflection of their phone on their glasses as they give a stiff nod in acknowledgement before returning to their phone again. Aiden glanced around, spotting the hallway just past the billiards table with a sign signalling for extra seating in the dining area.

"You know, when you said reservations, I was thinking it was going to be a little more classy." Amira commented as she ran her hand along the billiards table.

"This is probably the classiest you're going to get here in Darlow. Unless you prefer something else." He said as they walked down the short hallway to a large dining area. Unlike the bar counterpart of the building, the dining area was very well lit with lamps hanging over every table top. White linen cloth draped over each table with utensils and menus already set in place. Each window was closed off by blinds with little sun barely making past it. A host stand stood near the entrance of the hallway where two young women stood talking with one another. He caught the sent now that he was out of range of the bar, his nostrils flaring slightly as he instinctively put his hand up in front of Amira as he came to a stop by the podium. Both women glanced up at him and both simultaneously smiled at him.

"Hello, welcome to Danny's Shack." The petite brunette chirped up as she grabbed her notepad and pen, her hair held high in a ponytail that brushed between her shoulder blades, "Table for one?" She smiled sweetly at him.

There's more of them here? How did I miss that?

He side glances Amira who appeared unfazed by not being recognized by the woman, and yet her blue eyes were like piercing daggers. Her hand twitched at her side, playing with the edge of her dress before leaving it alone.

She must realize it to, but what makes this Vampire any different from the Professor?

"Two, actually." He corrected her, reaching his hand behind Amira and rested it on her lower back. The woman finally looked over to Amira with disinterest, giving her customer service smile regardless.

"Right, my apologies." She smiled at him again, gesturing to the dining area, "Right this way then." She turned and lead the way for them.

He lowered his voice as he walked beside Amira, "Bet you regret using your knife on me earlier now." He smirked a bit when he watched her eyebrow twitch in frustration, "Relax, so long as you are with me, nothing will hurt you." He reassured her, just barely seeing her relax at his side.

For a Hunter, she trusts too easily.

The woman came to a stop at a corner booth that was furthest from several other occupied tables. Amira slid in first and he followed in right after, only to have the woman present at his side, "Can I start you with a drink?"

"Whiskey on ice." He stated, watching her write it down before looking over to Amira, "What would you like? You can legally drink now, right?"

Amira picked up the menu, "She walked away already." She pointed with her pinkie. Aiden looked over to see that the waitress had definitely walked off after only taking his drink order, "It's most likely she realizes what I am, and if not that, well..."

"She has to know what I am then to and she's just putting a face on." He said as she set the menu down.

"It's customer service. So long as the employee is smiling, no one detects the true face behind the retail smile. And it's not like your bad to look at." She grumbled softly. Aiden looked over to her, but her eyes were surveying the place.

"Not bad, huh?" He rested an elbow on the table, propping his chin up on it. She finally looked over to him, the slightest hint of blush hitting her cheeks before looking away again.

"My question from earlier." She quickly changed the subject, "Why did you help me against him? With how much I was bleeding out, you could've left me to die," She said. His jaw tensed up at the idea of her dying on the cold pavement with no one there to be with her.

"Do you want to know the honest truth?" He asked her, leaning closer to her. She looked up at him again, unable to back away while under his gaze. He rested one hand on her thigh, squeezing gently while his other hand rested on her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lips. Aiden watched as her eyelids fluttered again, subconsciously leaning more into his touch. He eyed her lips with interest, licking his own as he slowly closed the gap between them, "Call it instinct that I needed to protect you." He whispered against her lips. Her lips parted slightly as her eyes fell shut, her hands resting on his chest. He pressed his body against her hands, his lips grazing her own, "Because you're my Mate..."