"Now, let's just get one thing straight," Damon announced as the three of them stood at the edge of the woods. "The werewolf can't kill me, because I'm already dead." He pointed at Alaric, "And it can't kill you because of the ring."

He then faced Elena, "But a poisonous bite will result in your death, and will therefore result in Stefan blaming me for this whole mess…So, do me a favor, and do your best not to get killed?"

Elena smiled, "I'll try, Damon."

"Good," he rubbed his hands together. "Now where is this brother of mine?"

Alaric glanced at his watch, "He's been hunting for a long time…"

Elena frowned, "Do you think something happened?"

Damon pulled out his cell phone, and quickly dialed Stefan's number.

No answer.

"That's weird," he muttered, peering into the woods. "It's going straight to voicemail."

"Maybe we should just get started," Alaric suggested. "The longer we wait here, the more time we waste."

Damon hesitated, glancing at Elena. "Are you okay with that?"

She sighed, not happy with the decision. "I guess it's better than standing around and doing nothing," she admitted.

"That's my girl," Damon said, putting an arm around her waist. "Just stay close to me, and you'll be fine." Elena rolled her eyes, but she didn't pull away.

Alaric shook his head, walking ahead of them. "Any ideas?"

"You're the bait," Damon called to him. "The werewolf can't smell me." He turned to Elena and grinned, "One of the perks of being a vampire."

Alaric suddenly realized why Damon was hanging onto Elena. He wanted his scent to mask her human scent, so the werewolf wouldn't go after her. Alaric hid a smile. Damon sure knew how to use a situation to his advantage.

"Hey, Mr. Saltzman?"

"What is it, Elena?" Alaric called back, not turning around.

"I was just thinking…you said your device emits a bunch of different frequencies, right?"

"That's right."

"So, couldn't you technically use a certain frequency to call the werewolf to you? Sort of like you'd call a dog?"

Alaric turned to face her, surprised. "You know, that's a pretty good idea. What do you think, Damon?"

Damon still had his arm around Elena's waist, but he let go of her suddenly. He turned around, frowning at something that the rest of them couldn't see. "Stefan?" he called, walking a few steps in the direction they had come from.

There was no reply.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked. "Did you hear Stefan?"

"I heard…something," Damon said, trying to concentrate. "I thought it was Stefan…but maybe not."

"For all we know, the werewolf is watching us right now," Alaric said in an undertone. He took out his device and held it out, "I'm going to turn it and run through a range of frequencies. Hopefully one of them will call the werewolf to us."

"One second," Damon said, looking up at the tree next to them. In a blur of motion, he picked up Elena, clamping her mouth so she wouldn't scream. Within an instant, he was standing next to Alaric again. "Okay, I'm ready."

Alaric blinked and looked up at the tree, where Elena was now sitting. She looked shocked, and was staring at Damon with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. "Nice move," he said to Damon, indicating Elena.

"I try," Damon replied, smirking.

Alaric shook his head, and turned the device on, slowly moving the handle to higher and higher frequencies. He glanced at Damon, who hadn't been affected yet.

Suddenly, there was a howl.

And it was very close.

"Get ready," Alaric whispered, starting to move back.

There was a crunch of leaves, and Damon heard footsteps padding towards them. He heard Elena's sharp intake of breath as the werewolf appeared in front of them, eyes gleaming, and razor sharp teeth glistening.

"Not the best looking creatures, are they?" Damon muttered to Alaric.

"Get on with it," Alaric hissed, eyeing the animal.

Damon crouched, staring into the werewolf's eyes. "You're going to help us," Damon said smoothly, his eyes dilating. "You're going to kill a vampire for us."

Damon waited, but the werewolf didn't move. "And now you're going to obey every command we give you." Damon stood up slowly, and turned to Alaric. "Think it worked?"

The werewolf growled, and began moving towards them. "Uh, I don't know…" Alaric said, taking another step back.

All of a sudden, the werewolf raised its head and let out an ear-splitting howl.

Then it leaped.

"It didn't work!" Alaric shouted, as the werewolf knocked him down with a thud. The frequency device went flying and landed out of reach.

"Yeah, I can see that!" Damon shouted back, leaping onto the werewolf's back to pull it off of Alaric.

The werewolf threw him off with ease, and Damon landed hard against a tree. Alaric tried to get up, but the werewolf whipped around, ramming into Alaric and sending him flying.

He landed some distance away and didn't move.

"Great," Damon muttered, as the werewolf growled and turned its attention back to Damon. He slowly began getting up, when suddenly the werewolf moved with astonishing speed. It bent down and grabbed something in its mouth before swiftly leaping at Damon.

Damon shouted in shock as something pierced his chest, and he looked down to see a tree branch sticking out of him. Damon winced in pain as he slumped back down against the tree. The last thing he saw was the werewolf advancing on him, its teeth inches away from his face.

Then everything went black.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Please wake up! Damon!"

Damon shook his head, feeling someone shaking his shoulder. A smooth hand touched his face, and Damon slowly opened his eyes. It took him a minute to realize that the face hovering above him was Elena, and not Katherine.

"Elena?" Damon tried to get up, wincing at the sharp pain in his chest.

"I pulled the branch out," Elena said worriedly, her hands gesturing towards his chest. "Was I supposed to?"

Damon tried to smile, and sat up against the tree. "Yeah, you did good." He looked at Elena, and his gaze landed on the massive creature behind her. No, make that massive dead creature behind her.

Elena looked behind her to see what he was looking at. "Oh yeah," she said shakily. "The werewolf is dead."

"Dead," Damon repeated, eyeing the creature. He shifted, gritting his teeth at the pain. "And how exactly did it become dead?"

"I, um, shot it…like you told me to…"

"You shot it?" Damon asked in disbelief. "From up there in the tree?"

"Well, it was going to kill you!" Elena said, shuddering. "I didn't know if it had staked you in the heart or not, but Alaric wasn't moving, and I figured it would come after me next…so I took out the gun you gave me, and…killed it."

Damon raised his eyebrows, "I didn't know you had such good aim."

Elena looked guilty, "Yeah, actually…I don't." She moved aside, and Damon saw Alaric still lying on the ground, next to the werewolf. "I accidently shot Alaric," Elena admitted.

Damon laughed, not because the situation was funny, but because of her rueful expression. "Don't worry about it," Damon said with a grin, "He'll heal real soon. He might give you an F in his history class though…"

Elena shook her head, but her lips curved upwards with a small smile. Then she took a look at him, and her expression sobered. "Can you move?" She put his arm around her shoulders, and they both stood up slowly.

Damon doubled over in pain almost immediately, and Elena struggled to keep them both standing. "I can't do it," Damon hissed, staggering away from her and falling to the ground.

Elena stared at him, clearly at a loss for what to do. He suddenly got an idea. "Hey, bring that werewolf carcass over here, would you?"

She looked from him to the werewolf, an expression of growing disgust on her face. "Ugh, you are not going to drink the werewolf's blood!"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Hey, it's a supernatural creature, too—"

"It's the mayor," Elena emphasized. "I'm not letting you drink from it!"

"You're the one that killed the mayor," Damon mimicked back, but he grinned slightly. "I'm proud of you, Elena. That took guts."

Elena took a deep breath, and knelt down next to him. "Yeah, so does this." She held out her wrist and placed it at his lips. "Go ahead. Drink."

Damon looked at her in disbelief. "Absolutely not," he snapped, trying to push her hand away.

"No, you need blood," Elena insisted. "We're going up against Katherine. You need human blood." She forced her wrist at his mouth again, shivering when she felt his teeth graze her skin.

"Elena…" Damon hesitated.

"No, it's okay," Elena said quietly. "I trust you."