Chapter 9

Elena ran as fast as her legs would carry her down the stairs. Running to the front door, she grabbed her cloak and put it on quickly.

"Elena, where are you going?" Stefan shouted from the banister.

"Sorry guys, but I can't stay here another minute! I'll lose it!" she shouted at them before opening the door and running outside. Stefan and Logan gave each other defeated looks.

The minute Elena ran outside, her face was hit with a blustery cold wind that caused her to shiver. It was very cold, windy and starting to snow.

She had forgotten that it was in the middle of December. She could barely see three feet in front of her. A snowstorm was starting. None of that mattered now; all that mattered was getting as far away from that horrible place as much as possible.

Her legs burning, she still kept running.

Stopping to catch her breath, she noticed yellow glowing lights in the distance. Squinting her eyes, she looked closer. Much to her surprise, more lights came up around the first two.

Her eyes widened in horror. Wolves!

She started running again and this time, the wolves followed her.

It didn't take long for them to catch up to her. She ran to a tree and grabbed a fallen branch. The wolves began to surround her in a circle. Terrified, she swung the branch around to ward them off. One of them grabbed the branch and tore it to pieces. Another one grabbed part of her cloak, which caused her to fall to the cold ground. Screaming in fright, she closed her eyes and covered her head, praying for her life to end quickly.

It never happened.

Out of nowhere, a figure ran up to her, tore the offending wolf off her, and threw him into a tree. Elena uncovered her head from her arms and looked at her rescuer.

It was Damon.

Elena watched in shock as Damon crouched in front of her, growling at the wolves. One of them ran to his arm; Damon caught him by the throat and hurtled against a tree. Two more came up to him on either side. One of them went for his throat but Damon was too fast for him; clutching him in his grasp. He didn't see the other one come around and jump on his right shoulder. The wolf easily tore through the flesh. With a scream of pain, Damon's outrage grew and he threw both wolves to the ground.

The rest of the pack retreated into the woods, knowing they had lost this fight.

Elena slowly stood up, clutching her injured arm. Damon turned to look at her, breathing heavily. Then he passed out right before her eyes.

'Leave him there. He hurt you!" her common sense screamed at her. Nevertheless, there was another part of her that screamed 'He saved you! Don't leave him here all alone and in pain!' In the end, her kindness overruled her common sense.

Bending down to his head, she lightly slapped his cheek in order to wake him up. There was no way she could carry him.

He slowly stirred and opened his eyes-his red eyes seemed to be looking right through her.

"Damon, come on, we'll go back to the castle. You're hurt and we need to get out of here before the wolves come back!" she hissed at him.

Slowly sitting up, he touched his shoulder and winced in pain.

"Come on, I'll help carry you," and with that, she helped Damon to his feet and hooked him around one of her shoulders. They made their slow trek back to the castle…

In the Castle

Damon was lying on the couch in the living room, shirtless, as Elena dabbed at the scratches on his shoulder. She had a bowl of hot water and a washcloth to clean his wounds. He hissed as she took the cloth and dabbed at one of the deeper gashes. So much that he actually moved out of her reach. She tried making a grab for him in order to keep him still but he moved again.

"IT HURTS!" he shouted at her. This caused Logan and Stefan to retreat behind a chair-she was in for it now.

"If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much," Elena hissed defiantly at him. Damon was shocked at her boldness.

"Well, if you hadn't run away, none of this would have happened in the first place!" he declared.

"If you wouldn't have frightened me and thrown me on the floor, I would have run away." She was calm now. Damon had nothing to say after that because deep down, he knew it was true. He was the reason she ran away.

"But…uh, thank you Damon…for saving my life." She looked at him and actually smiled for the first time since she arrived there about 3 months ago.

Damon looked at her in shock. She was actually thanking him, even after the horrible way he had treated her.

Stefan raised his brows at this exchange then smiled. They were making progress.

"You…you're welcome," he said gently and smiling at her for once. She smiled back at him and he let her finish cleaning and bandaging the wounds on the shoulder without any more fuss from him.

After she was finished, she stood up and a wave of dizziness hit her. She had to grip the back of a chair to keep herself from falling.

"What's wrong Elena?" his concerned voice was the only thing she could hear right now. He came up to her and his worried face came into view.

"I'm fine Damon, don't worry about me," she tried assuring him before a coughing fit caused her to gasp for breath.

"You are not alright, Elena." He said, walking over to her and feeling her forehead. Oh my God, she was burning up! She probably got sick from being out in the cold for so long. Holding her body close to his, he picked her up and whisked her to her room before she could protest. Not that she had much strength to do so at that moment.

"Jenna!" Damon yelled in fright. She appeared at the doorway and gasped when she saw how pale Elena looked.

"Please run Elena a warm bath and get her bed warm. She's getting very sick." Damon exclaimed in a worried voice. He felt guilty for what appeared to be the thousandth time that day. He was the one that scared her and caused her to run into the cold air. He would never forgive himself if she didn't recover.

Jenna immediately complied. And noticed that for the first time in his life, Damon actually used the word "please."