Evelyn POV

When a cold hand was placed on my shoulder, my first thought was that they had found me. That everything had been for nothing. I shot back, trying to get away from my aggressor. Immediately, a painful sting shot through my head. Groaning, I looked up, knowing there was nothing I could do now. When I recognized Alec, I had to restrain myself from throwing myself into his arms. I barely knew him. Actually, I despised how he treated me, yet I couldn't fight the warm feeling of utmost relief at seeing him.
"Al-ec." My voice trembled from the cold and normally, I would have hated this weakness, but I couldn't care less at the moment. His hands cradled my face in a loving way.
"You are freezing." I didn't respond, but relief washed over me as he wrapped his cloak around me. Immediately, I hugged it closer to me, grateful for some kind of protection from the cold. Alec said something to Demetri, who also looked down at me in concern and in the next moment, another cloak was handed to me. As I hugged them closer to me, I started feeling a little bit better. They were cold, as Alec and Demetri were freezing as well, but the mere thought of the cloaks was enough to bring me some relief.
"What happened." I looked up into his eyes. It took me a few seconds before I realized what he was talking about. With my body being so close to hypothermia and my head having received a hard blow, I was not in the right state of mind anymore.
"They... they hunted me." I muttered, unconsciously moving closer to him.
"Who." He nearly growled, his eyes darkening with the second. I had to think for a couple of seconds, before the name came to me again.
"Horatio and his friend."
"How did you get up here." Alec asked next and I started to get tired of all these questions. I wanted to get inside, preferably near a fire. Anywhere that wasn't the roof was already an improvement. Alec wrapped his arms around me and I was glad he seemingly caught onto my really wanting to get out of here.
"The chimney." I answered, nodding to the structure. I heard Demetri praising me for that, but I zoned out after that, nestling myself deeper into Alec's arms. I was not able to refrain myself from seeking this comfort. His arms around me made me feel safe, which was something I craved after having felt anything but safe in the past couple of hours. A warm feeling started spreading through my chest as I sighed almost contently at being close to him. Alec nuzzled my neck, tickling me slightly, before he started walking. I simply closed my eyes, seemingly having found it in myself to trust the man who had been nothing but disrespectful to me before.

When I opened them, Alec put me down on the table in his room. Immediately after, he lit a fire in the room. Even from where I was sitting, I could already feel its comforting warmth. Somewhere, he had found a bucket with water and a rag, which he carried over to me. Without a word, he started cleaning my wounds. After a few minutes, I finally started to warm up again, the cloaks and the fire helping immensely. Only then did I realize how close Alec really was. His scent was enveloping me as he stood between my legs, transfixed on one of the numerous wounds. Again, his closeness affected me and I tried to think of something to say, so I could distract myself from my obvious attraction to him.
"Sorry for ruining your clothes." Alec looked up at that, his eyes meeting mine. I could see the concern for me, yet also the anger at my having escaped again.
"You should not have worn them in the first place," he sighed, as if extremely tired. He sounded less angry than I expected, which made me like him a bit more. He put the rag in the water again and wrung it out, before moving on to the next wound. "It is not proper clothing for a woman." I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"Had I worn the dress, I would have died." I said with such power, that it stopped Alec in his movements for a second.
"How did you escape?" He asked instead of responding.
"I tricked them into giving me a head start and climbed up a chimney." I smirked, my energy gradually returning as my body warmed up, "Turns out, my work had perfectly prepared me for escaping burning pyres and hungry vampires." Alec looked at me strangely, before smiling.
"What kind of work did you do?" I chuckled, imagining how he would respond to the knowledge of my being a stripper. Not very well, I expect.
"I was a dancer," I answered, keeping it vague enough so he wouldn't know, "But it was only a part-time job. I wanted to become a doctor." I was actually having quite a decent conversation with him and I even smiled at him. A warm feeling spread through my body and I dared to say I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed to have him so close, having a decent conversation. I enjoyed the tenderness with which he took care of me, the way his eyes would sometimes shift to mine, as if to ensure I was still there and fine.
"As a woman?" Of course he had to ruin it. As soon as I narrowed my eyes at him, he sighed, but did not apologize. "It is impressive." He said, a bit hesitant, but I smiled at him, happy that he was at least trying to be a decent person. Before either of us could say anything else, there was a knock on the door and Demetri entered. Behind him were the two vampires that hunted me down. Their eyes were immediately drawn to me and Alec. Once they recognized me and their eyes glanced at how close I was to Alec, they visibly trembled: fear evident in their eyes. It confused me, until I looked at Alec. He looked about ready to rip their heads of right here and now.
"Master Alec." The blonde spoke, but Alec merely growled. It put fear into my heart, even when it wasn't directed at me.
"You dare attack my mate."