Alexandria Gilbert

by JChavz95

Vampires, witches, werewolves and doppelgangers, oh my! All Alexa Gilbert wanted was a quiet life, a free drink and to party the night away with her friends without being nagged by her twin sister Elena, but the arrival of the mysterious Salvatore brothers may just ruin those plans... Starts Season 1, Episode 1, Slowburn Damon/OC, Now on Season 4!

46. The Hybrid

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: Now this was a fun chapter to write, lots of Dalexa, although not quite earning the M rating yet... We get to see rational Alexa protecting her twin this time round, as well as delving into her thought process on what had happened.

XXX

I jolted awake after dreaming that I was falling. Surprisingly, it was my only nightmare of the night. Guess what happened after took my mind off of it better than I expected. Not that I was complaining. I was so sick and tired of fucking nightmares. I had had enough to last me a nighttime.

"Oh fuck me," I groaned, keeping my eyes closed as I realised that I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. I could see the brightness of the room through my closed eyelids. Hopefully it wasn't too early. Cos that would suck.

"Hmm, is that an invitation?" a silky voice whispered into my ear and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. I could feel Damon settling down next to me, holding himself up on his elbow as he looked down at me.

"Maybe," I smirked slyly, opening my eyes and stretching my body, enjoying the way that my Damon admired my cleavage from his view. "Depends on how nice you are. Cos you know, I'm a lady. I don't put out straight away."

"So you're one of those girls who has to be wined and dined," my vampire rolled his eyes but I could see the smirk tugging at his lips. He rested his free hand on my stomach, his fingers lightly stroking the sliver of skin above my PJ shorts. I refused to let him see how much that simple touch was affecting me.

"Oh but I am so worth it," I wiggled my eyebrows, enjoying that deep, throaty laugh that I got in return. I reached up and carefully traced the outline of Damon's lips with my fingers, enjoying the fact that I could actually do that now.

"Yes you are," Damon hummed and I could see the happiness in his expression. It was something that warmed my heart. Our lives had been so full of pain and sadness recently, being happy was a rarity. And to see that happiness lighting up his face made me smile stupidly. "I've missed that smile."

"So have I," I couldn't take my eyes off of his lips. I ached to lean forward and just kiss them again. Apparently they were incredibly addictive. And everyone knew that I had no self-control. "You were always gonna be the one to bring it back."

"Was I now?" my vampire smirked proudly, but I could see the surprise in his eyes. Before I could answer, he flipped us over so that I was settled on his lap, his back against my headboard. My head spun for a moment before I pouted, smoothing down my bedhead to the best of my ability.

It took me a second to remember what I was going to say, "Well, duh, you were always the one who made me feel better. And you were the only one to get me to laugh when I was in my depressive phase." I paused for a moment before shrugging, a cheeky smile on my lips, "Besides, you gave me booze. That instantly made you my favourite person and that gave you an unfair advantage."

"Naturally," Damon rolled his eyes, his fingers sneaking back under my top to stroke the skin of my hips.

"I'm a girl of simple pleasures," I hummed, leaning forward. "And this is one of them."

I tangled my fingers in Damon's hair as I finally allowed myself to kiss him. They were seriously addictive and I couldn't bring myself to stop. Apparently, Damon felt the same way. His grip on my hips tightened as one of his hands moved to grip my ass. I groaned into his mouth and hungrily pulled him closer.

"Fuck sake," I hissed as I pulled away. But Damon followed, nibbling on my neck in a way that totally turned me on.

I was so close to breaking my rule of no sex before a date when someone banged on my door. One part of me was grateful to them, for stopping me from throwing caution to the wind. But the other part of me, that felt Damon getting hard under me, had me cursing.

"Alexa, wake up!" Elena shouted and I groaned as I heard my sister.

"Ellie, go back to bed!" I shouted back, trying not to moan as my vampire found the sensitive spot under my ear. "It's too early!"

"We need to speak to Damon," Ellie argued and I rolled my eyes. "So get ready and call him over here. With his research, if he hasn't already destroyed it."

"I should have let Klaus eat her," I muttered before raising my voice. "Yeah, fine, whatever. I'll call him over."

My twin didn't answer but I could hear her footsteps as she walked away. The little cockblock. Just cos she wasn't getting any didn't mean that others weren't enjoying themselves. Not that she knew what she was interrupting, but still. The mean thoughts still applied.

"You do still have all your research, right?" I asked, struggling to keep focused as Damon decided that now was a perfect time to start sucking on my skin. I let out a low moan as the feeling totally turned me on. I gripped onto the vampire's shoulders as I tried to keep track of my thoughts. "Cos she will totally kill me if you don't bring it all with you."

Damon pulled back, a smug smile dancing around his lips as he answered, "Luckily for you, I haven't burned it all yet."

"Oh thank god," I rolled my eyes before reluctantly moving away from him. "Can you go get them before meeting me downstairs?"

"If I must," Damon rolled his eyes as he got up from my bed. But before he disappeared from the room, he pulled me in for one last kiss. Apparently I wasn't the only one who found them addictive. I could feel myself smiling stupidly and shook my head. I needed to get ready for whatever my sister had in mind. So I grabbed some shorts and paired them with a white tank top.

I looked in the mirror to sort out my makeup and paused. Shit, there was a huge bruise on my neck. Caroline wasn't kidding when she called Damon the King of Hickeys all those months ago.

"I'm gonna need to invest in more foundation."

XXX

Once I had managed to hide my hickey, I retreated downstairs to track down my sister. I found her pacing around the kitchen, waiting for the coffee pot to finish its magic.

"Everything alright, Ellie?" I asked, drawing her attention as I walked into the kitchen. "You look tense."

"I'm fine," my twin waved off my concerns. "Did you call Damon?"

Well, technically, I did. Not that I was going to tell my sister. I wanted to keep my new relationship with Damon a secret for now. Even if I did really want to tell my sister. But I didn't want to rub it in her face since her beau was MIA.

"He's on his way," I shrugged, keeping my back to her as I poured out the coffees. "With his research. Cos I know you were gonna ask that."

"He didn't destroy it then?" Ellie looked hopeful and I sighed. Even after what Stefan did last night, she wanted to find him. I knew that I was an accomplice to that, since I told her not to give up hope. But I was worried as to what lengths she would now go to in order to bring him home.

"Nah, you got lucky," I flipped my hair over my shoulder, covering the side of my neck that Damon had thoughtfully marked up "If you had waited any longer, then he probably would have burnt them."

Elena looked scandalized, "Why would he burn them?"

"Because he has given up hope after Stefan tried to kill me via clocktower," I shrugged, immediately regretting my words when my twin winced. I should probably avoid referencing that event ever again.

Luckily, before Ellie could say anything, the doorbell rang. I raced to go answer it, eager to escape any awkward questions about the Event That Must Not Be Mentioned. I yanked open the door and smiled up at the vampire on the other side.

Damon glanced down at my neck, a satisfied look in his eyes while I rolled my eyes. But I moved to the side to let him in, spying the folder full of papers in his hands.

"Damon, you got here quick," Ellie spoke up, darting forward to take the offered folder. I glanced to the side and resisted the urge to cough awkwardly. Fortunately, Damon was better at this sort of thing than I was.

"Was I?" he shrugged, walking into the kitchen and stealing a sip of my coffee. I rolled my eyes but let it go. I knew that the little shit would drop little innuendos, hinting at our little sleepover, if I said anything. "What do you think you'll find in there?"

I joined my vampire by the kitchen counter while Elena sighed, opening the folder, "I don't know. Anything that could help." She paused before looking over at us, "He called me last night."

"Say what?" I exchanged a look with Damon at her words, wondering what the hell was going on. Stefan called her. After he compelled me to jump off of the clocktower. What was that boy doing?

"Stefan called me last night," my twin reiterated, slumping down into one of the dining room chairs.

"Well, what'd he say?" my vampire asked, resting his hand on my back while I leant into his side.

"He didn't say anything," Elena said reluctantly, before carrying on at the sight of my raised eyebrow. "But it was him. I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin. It came from Tennessee."

"How long have you been awake?" I squinted at her suspiciously, wondering if I should keeping an eye on her sleeping patterns again.

"Not that long," Ellie shrugged, refusing to make eye contact and I just knew that she was up at the crack of dawn.

"Ah Tennessee," Damon mused, his grip on me tightening slightly. "Where Stefan has been munching on the country folk. Look, Elena, we went through this. Stefan's gone. And I don't mean geographically."

Ellie had a stubborn look on her face as she glared at the vampire, "If he was gone, he wouldn't have called."

Well, shit. What did we say to that? Because it was painfully true. Stefan wouldn't have reached out to her if we had lost him forever. Maybe there was still hope. But it was clear that Damon didn't share that hope. And I couldn't blame him. He had seen this a lot of times over the years. He knew better than we did how to deal with all of this.

"Look, guys," I sighed, holding out my hands before any heated words could be exchanged. How I had become the voice of reason, I would never know. It wasn't a position that I normally ended up, as I liked to stoke the fires of tension for my own amusement. "Let's just take a moment to think on this, okay? Elena, read through your papers and breathe. Damon, just… don't read and still breathe."

"I need to go meet Vanessa and Andie, anyway," Damon rolled his eyes and used his hand on my back to direct me to the front door. "They think they have found a way to kill an Original permanently. So I said I'll see what they've found."

"Let me know if it's anything worthwhile," I requested, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that my sister wasn't watching. Once I was happy that her focus was on the papers, I leant forward to give my vampire a quick kiss.

"Will do," Damon reached out to brush my hair away from my neck, a smug look in his eye as he looked down at my hidden hickey. "Don't make plans for tomorrow night."

"Gotcha," I grinned, sneaking forward for another quick kiss. "See you later."

The vampire glanced over his shoulder before leaning in to whisper into my ear, "Let me know if she does anything stupid. And try not to accompany her if she does."

"Can't make any promises," I winked, enjoying the way his eyes light up with amusement.

XXX

"I need answers and Damon isn't going to give them to me," Elena declared suddenly, slamming down the paper in her hand. I jolted up from where I had been sitting next to her at the dining table. I had been playing on my phone while she read through everything again, making her own notes.

"Well, where are you going to get them from?" I sighed, tucking my phone into my pocket. I was suddenly so grateful that I hadn't promised Damon that I wouldn't accompany Elena if she did something stupid. Because I just knew where this was going.

My sister paused for a moment; a calculating look on her face as she glanced over at the stairs. I opened my mouth to prompt her for an answer when she pushed herself to her feet. It took me a moment to realise what she had done before I shook my head.

"Ellie!" I called, chasing after my idiot sister as she made her way up the stairs. "An answer would be appreciated right now."

Of course, I did get an answer. Just not a verbal one.

Elena, my dearest twin sister, who used to be known as the sweet and nice one, barged into our aunt's room. Luckily they were both dressed in their PJs and were awake in bed. But that didn't stop Jenna from shouting out Elena's name.

"Ellie, you're acting like Damon," I hissed at my sister before smiling at Jenna and Ric. "Sorry bout her, she's a girl on a mission right now."

"Stefan?" Jenna asked while Ellie sat down at the dresser, her arms crossed.

"Yup," I sighed, rolling my eyes at the less than impressed look my sister gave me. "What else would it be?"

"I need you to tell me what you know about Stefan and Tennessee," my twin was looking directly at Ric, a stubborn look on her face. I sighed as I realised that she was not leaving this room without an answer.

"Elena, are we really going to do this now?" Ric sighed, rubbing his face. I felt bad for him. I knew that he had gotten back late last night, and had to wrangle a drunk Jenna to bed. We had heard him, but Damon had insisted that Ric could handle it. Of course, he was sucking on my neck at the time, so he would say that.

"Come on, Ric," Ellie sighed, her stubborn look turning pitiful. "Whatever Damon knows, you know."

"So ask Damon," the history teacher rolled his eyes while Jenna tried to smother herself with a pillow. "Or ask Alexa to ask Damon."

"I would, but Damon's not exactly in the mood to help right now," Ellie rolled her eyes and gave me a dirty look. "And Alexa won't force him to."

"I would do the same if the positions were reversed," I sniffed, looking away and crossing my arms.

"For good reason," Ric pointed out, ever the voice of reason in this insane little family. "Because it's not safe for you. Stefan's off the rails."

"Yeah, but he's still holding on to his humanity," my stubborn sister argued. "Which means that he can still be saved."

"And why do you have to be the one to save him?" Ric asked while Jenna grumbled something from underneath her pillow.

"You still alive over there, Jenna?" I called softly, getting a grunt and thumbs down in response. I rolled my eyes and went to grab her some aspirin. I knew that her head would be pounding after the amount of wine that she drank last night. The last time she did that, she suffered from a two-day hangover. It wouldn't surprise me if this time it was the same.

"Because this is all my fault," Ellie snapped before taking a deep breath. "Look, he would never give up on me. I'm not gonna give up on him. Tell me what you know, Ric. Please."

I sighed as I heard the desperation in my sister's voice. I knew how much she loved Stefan and how desperately she needed him. He had been there for her during her dark days, when I was unable to. And she would do anything for him.

Ric must have heard the same as he sighed, "They've been tracking werewolves, he and Klaus. All over the eastern seaboard. We thought we had 'em outside of Memphis…"

I listened to Ric's words as I got Jenna a glass of water and some aspirin. It was the brand I used when I was suffering from hangovers. Ironically, it was Vicki that introduced me to it. But it really did help.

Once I gave them to Jenna, I turned to the other two in the room and sighed, "So you need someone who can help us track down a werewolf pack in Tennessee. That isn't going to be easy. Especially since Bonnie is out of town and we can't use her to magically track down Stefan."

"Well, there is someone who would know a place that a pack would use to turn for the full moon," Ellie spoke slowly, looking like she was choosing her words very carefully.

It took me barely a second to realise who she was talking about. And I didn't like it.

"No, no, no, no, we are not going to ask Tyler," I used my best pointy finger and sternest look. Not that it would work on my stubborn twin, but at least I was trying.

"Alexa, you'll be speaking to Tyler this morning anyway," Ellie gave me her best puppy dog eyes, pouting her lip slightly. "It's not like you'll be going out of your way."

"So you want to hijack my coffee morning with Tyler to find out this information?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"Alexa, just give up," Jenna groaned from under her pillow. "You know that Elena is going to win this one."

"Where's Damon when I need him," I muttered quietly before raising my voice. "Fine, you can interrupt our coffee morning to ask him where a wolf pack would meet in Tennessee. But you are not to drag him with us. I want Tyler to get himself settled comfortably for the full moon." I paused before adding, "As comfortably as he possibly can."

XXX

As agreed, Elena hijacked the weekly Alexa and Tyler coffee morning to ask her questions about where werewolves congregate in Tennessee for the full moon. Alaric had driven us here, after Jenna banished us all from the room. I knew that she would not be leaving her bed for anything. So I made sure to leave a glass of water and some cheddar biscuits for when she needed something. I also left her a packet of aspirin, because I am clearly her best niece.

"A lot of us like to keep to ourselves for the full moon," Tyler was explaining to my sister while I texted Damon. "Chain ourselves up. But there are some werewolves that like to gather in places where they don't have to do that, where they can enjoy it."

That caught Ellie's attention and she leant forward, resting her arms on the table, "What kind of places?"

I finished my hot chocolate while Ty answered her question, "Mountains, state parks, deserts, that kind of stuff."

"Anywhere in Tennessee?" my sister asked, trying to be sly. But she didn't know what I had already asked Tyler before we met up. So he had time to think about possible places. I wasn't about to put him on the spot.

"Yeah," he nodded, grabbing my phone off of the table. "I'll pull up a map on Alexa's phone."

"Bit rude, I never offered you my phone," I pouted while secretly hoping that Damon didn't reply in the time that Tyler had my phone. I had been keeping him up to date with everything, including Elena's determination to find out where werewolves went to go turn in Tennessee.

"Thanks for this," Ellie smiled at my friend, ignoring my pouting and muttered words. "I know it's asking for a lot."

"As Caroline likes to remind me, Stefan's in this mess because I bit Damon," Ty smiled wryly and my gaze narrowed. "I figure I owe you one."

"Is she still saying that?" I interrupted, tapping my fingers on the table. "Cos that is totally not true. Damon was the one who decided to save you. To give me time to find a more reliable way to save Elena. If it is anyone's fault, it's mine."

"Alexa, stop saying that," Tyler sighed, shaking his head and grabbing my hand. "It's not your fault."

"And it's not your fault either," I shot back, but I allowed myself to relax. "If Caroline is still saying that, then let me know. I can persuade her otherwise."

"How?" Tyler looked intrigued and I had to think fast.

"I have some information that she would love to get her hands on," I replied mysteriously, looking away so that I didn't accidentally blurt it out.

"Have you talked to her today?" Ty asked, trying to act casual but he winced when he saw my gleeful smirk.

"No, why?" Ellie asked, her gaze transfixed on my phone.

"Just curious," Ty tried to answer but I gasped loudly.

"Tyler, did you and Caroline finally bump uglies?" I loved the dirty look that Tyler shot me. He had spent so much time teasing me about my deathbed kiss with Damon, that I was not going to give up this opportunity.

"Alexa, shut up," the werewolf growled, giving me a tiny shove. "If it happened, then I sure as hell wouldn't say anything to you."

"Lol, if it happened," I mocked, wishing that Caroline was around so that I could tease her too. "It totally did and we both know it."

Fortunately, before our childishness could turn violent, Tyler decided to be the bigger man and turned his back on me. He passed my phone over to my sister, "Here. That's your best bet. I would recommend taking a screenshot of it, because you know what Alexa's like."

"I know you're only insulting me cos I worked out that you and Caroline had sex," I grinned, tapping his shoulder. "So I'm not going to take offence to that."

"Yeah, whatever," Tyler rolled his eyes. "Why don't you go bother someone else?"

"You're lucky that I'm making sure that Elena isn't going to do anything stupid," I leant forward to press a kiss to my bro's cheek. "Otherwise I would stay here to annoy you further."

"Yay for me," I heard Ty mutter as I followed my sister over to the bar. Ric was lurking there, looking sorry for himself. I knew that he was regretting his decision to help my twin. But it was either that or deal with hungover Jenna. Personally, I would have chosen hungover Jenna.

"Did you get anything?" the teacher asked, downing the rest of his coffee.

Ellie put her hand on her hip and gave him her best determined face, "How do you feel about a little hike through the Smoky Mountains?"

"Sounds horrible," I snorted, exchanging a look with Ric. This was definitely one of Elena's more ridiculous ideas, and she had had a few in her lifetime.

"You wanna hunt down a pack of werewolves on a full moon?" Alaric asked slowly, trying to get her to see the stupidity in what she was asking. But my sister wasn't having any of it. She had made up her mind and there was nothing anyone could do to change it.

"We'll be out there before the moon is full," Elena argued, crossing her arms. "If you don't come with me, I'm going by myself."

I groaned, "Ugh, no you're not. If you're going then I'll go with you."

I couldn't let the idiot go running off by herself. Knowing her shitty luck, she would get herself eaten. Or worse, actually find what she was looking for. And I don't think Klaus would take too kindly to finding out that the doppelganger survived.

"Jenna will kill me if I let you two wander off into danger alone," Ric groaned, shaking his head. "Let's go."

"So are you saying that if it was only one of us wandering into danger, Jenna would be okay with it?" I smirked, enjoying Ric's dramatic eye roll.

XXX

I knew that I had to tell Damon what we were up to. Elena would kill me if she found out that I told on her. But what she was doing was far too dangerous for him not to know. Besides, he asked if I could tell him if Elena did something stupid. Of course, he asked me not to go with her, but that was never going to happen.

While Elena was driving, I used my position in the backseat to send off a quick text to Damon.

'so you know how you asked me not to accompany Ellie if she did something stupid, well….'

It took him barely a second to reply, 'What has she done?'

I glanced over at my sister to make sure that she wasn't looking. Luckily, she was focused on listening to her sat nav. I was glad that Ric had made her drive, I never would have gotten away with it if she was just a passenger.

'decided to go hunting werewolves in the Smoky Mountains…'

While I waited for Damon to reply, I took the opportunity to tighten the laces on my converses. They weren't exactly practical for hiking. But Elena had refused to let me go home to change them. She was under the impression that if she let me go somewhere alone, then I would tell on her.

… I mean, she wasn't exactly wrong. But that just meant that she realised how stupid she was being.

Since Damon was taking his sweet time in responding, I sent him another text, 'if it helps, I brought Ric along as backup :)'

That prompted him to respond, 'I know, Ric just told me, looks like you aren't the only snitch accompanying Elena'

Well, that was rude.

I had to stop myself from pouting as I responded, 'not cool, Day, please don't tell her that I told on her. She'll never forgive me :('

'Maybe I should tell her, that way you'll stop getting yourself into dangerous situations'

I rolled my eyes before glancing up to make sure that no one had seen me, 'lol not gonna happen'

'I should tie you up in my basement'

'ooooh kinky ;)'

He didn't respond to me after that. But I knew he wouldn't tell on me. What excuse he would give Elena when he turned up, I didn't know. But I knew that he wouldn't let on that I told on her.

I glanced up to see Ric staring at me in the mirror, an eyebrow raised. I shrugged innocently before clearing my throat, "So Ellie, what exactly is the plan here?"

"Tyler told me which turnoff to use and where to find them," Ellie answered, keeping her gaze on the road.

"Do we know how many werewolves will be there?" I exchanged a look with Ric as I asked. I knew that he had told Damon about our stupid little adventure. But I was willing to bet he didn't know that I had done the same.

"Uh, no, Tyler didn't say," my sister cleared her throat uncomfortably. "He just said that there are a couple of packs in the area that like to come here."

"So basically, we have no idea what we are walking into," I rolled my eyes before slumping back in my seat. "Isn't that just wizard."

"Alexa, it'll be fine," my twin tried to reassure me, glancing back at me in the mirror. "We'll be gone before the full moon rises. We won't be in any danger."

"Werewolves don't need to be in wolf form to be dangerous," I pointed out, feeling slightly guilty as the other two winced at the reminded of what Jules had done. "If we're surprising them, then they might not be friendly. Of course, that doesn't count the biggest danger that could be there."

"Please don't say," Ellie began, sounding wary but I interrupted her.

"Klaus," I used my pointy finger to poke her shoulder. "Klaus could be there. And he thinks that you are dead. Which means that you are safe. This is not safe. This is very dangerous. He could find out that you are alive which means that he will try to kill you again."

"Lexa, even if Klaus is there, we can avoid him," Elena sounded so earnest and I narrowed my eyes at her. "All I need to do is speak to Stefan. We can lure him away and find a way to bring him home."

"You aren't going to listen to a word that I say to you, are you?" I squinted at my dumb sister, crossing my arms.

"Alexa, I can't," Ellie sighed and I sighed too. "I need to do this."

Damn, what could I say to that?

I could only hope that she would listen to Damon when he arrived. He was the one who had dealt with this before. He could tell her to give this up. Or at least, find a safer way to do it. Mixing with werewolves on a full moon in the middle of nowhere was not safe.

I sent off a quick text to Tyler, wishing him luck for the full moon tonight, before I started thinking of ways to keep my twin safe. I knew that Ric would get her out of there if something dangerous happened. But I needed a backup plan.

I had worked hard to keep my sister alive and I refused to let anything bad happen to her. She was supposed to be safe after Klaus left town. Well, as safe as one could be when living with vampires, werewolves and witches. But the point was, she wasn't supposed to be looking for danger. Honestly, and people called her the sensible twin. She was far from sensible.

I sighed and twirled my new ring around my finger. I just hoped that Damon found us soon. At least that way I would have even more support to get Elena to give this up for the day. And to find a safer way of getting in contact with Stefan.

"Lexa?" I glanced up to see my twin looking at me, a sweet smile on her face. "Thank you for coming with me."

Aw fuck.

XXX

I was suddenly so grateful that I had gotten back into my fitness routines. I definitely would have died on this hike if I hadn't gotten back into the habit of jogging regularly. And I definitely had Ric to thank for that. He had been encouraging me to keep fit, both as a way of keeping safe and to help with the nightmares.

Ric walked ahead of us, a map tucked into his back pocket, directing us through the woods. He had insisted that we walked next to the river, using it as our guide. Which helped as I definitely would have gotten lost without it.

Ellie and I shared a backpack, switching it every now and then. Ric only had two and I knew that I couldn't let Elena carry it all the time. Even if she was the reason why we were out here. I had also tucked my phone into it. And I wanted to keep an eye on it to make sure that Damon hadn't sent me anything. I was hoping that he was on his way, but it was quite a drive from Mystic Falls to the Smoky Mountains. Even with the way that Damon drove.

"In a couple of hours, the full moon's gonna rise just above that ridge," Ric spoke up, breaking the sweaty silence. He gestured ahead of us, drawing my attention to just how much more walking we had left to do. "If Tyler's right, that's where the pack'll be."

Ellie looked at him, amusement brightening up her eyes, "You were a boy scout, weren't you?" I glanced at Ric. I mean, I could see why she was asking that. He was very much prepared for any situation that we could face here. Including forcing us to put on sun-tan lotion. "A boy scout slash vampire slayer?"

"Slash whiskey-drinking all-around lost cause," Ric sighed, indicating that we should stop for a moment.

I snorted, "Oh please, you're just as much of a lost cause as Jeremy is."

The vampire hunter glanced back at me, a frown on his face, "Jeremy isn't a lost cause."

"Exactly," I smirked, slipping off my backpack. It took Ric a second, but he rolled his eyes when he realised what I meant.

While I sipped at some water and checked my phone, Ric took off his backpack. He crouched down to unzip the outer pocket. And oh wow, there were a shit-tonne of weapons. Like seriously, there were so many. There were stakes and arrows and grenades and so much more.

"Holy shit," I breathed, pausing in my movements to put the phone back.

"You came stocked," Ellie sounded impressed and I just knew that she was wondering if she could get her hands on some of those weapons. I mean, it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. But out of the two of us, I was the one who had been learning how to fight. So I should be the one to get a weapon. And I did really want one.

"Well, we aren't exactly bird-watching," Ric sighed, pulling something out of the main part of the backpack. "Here." He stood back up and held it out. I managed to beat my sister and take it before she could. It was one of the vervain grenades that Ric liked to make. I had seen the empty canisters when I stayed at his apartment that time. "Put that in your bag."

"Vervain grenade?" Ellie asked, looking at the weapon in my hand. She unzipped the bag while I carefully placed it within. Even if the liquid wouldn't hurt us, the force of the explosion probably would. It was the reason why Ric was always reluctant for Jeremy to help him make them, no matter how much the kid pouted.

"Wolfsbane," the hunter corrected. Well, that made a bit more sense. Vervain wouldn't bother werewolves, but wolfsbane would fuck them up. Even when water down, it was painful. Having it pure, like I suspected it was, it would definitely give us an advantage in a fight.

Ellie exchanged a glance with me and I nodded. I didn't know what was on her mind, but I trusted her. She grabbed something from the side pocket before walking over to Ric.

"Well, since we're exchanging gifts," she held out her hand and one of the magical Gilbert rings glinted in the sunlight.

"That's John Gilbert's ring," Ric shook his head, gently pushing my sister's hand away. But Elena wasn't having it. And I was on her side. I had no idea what had happened to it after he turned, but it made sense that John gave it to my sister. She was the only one who didn't have one. And yeah, while it wouldn't work on her, at least she had one now, to pass on to whoever she wished.

"It was yours once," Elena said softly as I approached them. "Go ahead. Take it. It'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into."

But the hunter still looked reluctant to take it, "He gave it to you."

"Yeah, but I'm a doppelganger," Ellie shrugged, waving the ring. "It's not gonna work on me. He left it for if I ever have kids. And besides, Alexa and Jeremy already have rings. You're the one who needs protecting now."

"What about Jenna?" Ric was trying to look anywhere but the ring.

"She wanted you to have it," I spoke up, giving my sister some backup. It was decision that we both agreed on. So I couldn't leave her alone to implement it.

"Well, why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts?" Ric sighed but you could see that he was realizing that he was going to end up taking that ring.

"Okay," Ellie agreed, also sensing the impending defeat. "And how about you borrow it until after we survive this? Because Jenna won't be happy if we get her boyfriend killed."

I knew it was the name dropping of our aunt that finally got him. He rolled his eyes and plucked the ring from my sister's hand, "You two really are far too stubborn."

"It's why you love us," I laughed while Ellie retreated to the backpack, tucking her overshirt inside it. Why the girl still had two layers on, I did not know. But at least she was being sensible now.

I wandered over to the edge of the bank, looking down at the water. It was actually rather peaceful, and I could see why people went out hiking. Ellie joined me while Ric did a quick stock take. I knew that he didn't need to, but was really giving us a chance to catch out breath and take some water.

I was just about to say something to Ellie when a hand landed on my back. I was sent flying into the water, my mind struggling to catch up with what happened. Of course, landing in the freezing cold water quickly helped me catch up. I saw Elena join me out of the corner of my eye.

I spluttered fiercely as I stood up in the water and turned around to look at where I was standing just a second ago. I immediately rolled my eyes while Elena gasped in outrage.

Damon stood on the bank, smirking proudly, while Alaric lowered the crossbow that he had been pointing at the vampire. Well, at least I now had backup.

XXX

It didn't take long for my sister to find her voice, "Damon! How are you even here?"

My vampire kept his gaze on her, a sly smirk on his lips, as he spoke over his shoulder, "Thanks for the tip, brother."

Ellie turned her offended eyes to Ric, "You sold us out!"

"Don't involve me in this!" I protested, ignoring the dirty look that my twin gave me. Once I was sure that she was pouting at Ric again, I gave Damon a quick thumbs up. While he had thrown Ric under the bus, I was off the hook.

"You think I'd take the both of you to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?" the hunter snorted, shaking his head. Well, apparently Ric was owning his snitching.

"I mean, he's got a point, Ellie," I muttered to my sister. As much as I didn't want to draw her wrath my way, I had to point it out. Before she started to get too mad at Ric.

"That's not the point, Alexa," Elena hissed, pushing her wet hair out of her face. I was thankful that mine was tied up. Although I could feel the water dripping down the back of my neck. Which was incredibly unpleasant.

"Girls, get out of the water," Damon sighed, stopping my sister from killing me, like the look in her eye indicated that she wanted to do. That was why I never spoke sense, I only received death glares when I did.

I shrugged and went to do so, only for a hand to grab my arm. I glanced back at my sister, who had her stubborn look back on her face. I rolled my eyes and stepped back, so we were shoulder to shoulder.

"If we get out of the water, you're gonna make us go home," Ellie was not gonna make this easier on anyone.

"Stop it with the 'we'," I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "I'm not involved in your stupidity."

"Alexa, shut up," my supposedly adorable sister elbowed me in the stomach, ignoring the 'oof' that I let out.

"Yes, because I'm not an idiot like you, Elena," the vampire immediately shot back, looking incredibly unimpressed. I would like to think that that was because I was being abused by my sister. But I knew that it was Elena's stubbornness that was causing the look.

"Right now, you're both acting like idiots," Ric rolled his eyes before turning around to put the crossbow back into his backpack. Well, at least he didn't include me in that sentence. I would have to thank him about that later.

"You gave up on him, Damon," Ellie had that hurt tone in her voice again. The one that made me want to do anything to make her happy again. It was the reason why I even let her out of Mystic Falls, although it didn't stop me from calling in backup.

"I didn't give up on him, Elena," Damon tried very hard not to snap. "I faced reality. Now get out of the water."

I saw him glanced at me and shrugged helplessly. I couldn't just abandon her, not when she was sounding so vulnerable. Even if I did agree that what she was doing was stupid.

My sister narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "No!"

"What's your big plan, Elena?" my vampire jumped down from the bank and started walking towards us. He didn't even pause when he reached the water, he just kept coming. "Huh? You gonna walk through a campsite of werewolves, roast a marshmallow and wait for Stefan to stop by?"

"My plan is to find him and help him," my twin retorted, rolling her eyes when Damon came to a stop in front of us. "Damon, this is the closest we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."

I couldn't help but wince at her words. Technically, for her, it was true. But Damon and I had been close to Stefan. When he was compelling me to jump off the clocktower. And he nearly stopped Damon from saving me.

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse," Damon's voice had gone soft, in a way that it usually did when he was persuading someone to do what he wanted. "That makes you safe. This," he paused to indicate the general surroundings, "this is not safe."

"I'm not leaving before we find him," Ellie snapped. She just about managed to hide the way her voice cracked. I could see the desperation warring with anger on my sister's face and sighed. I knew that I would have to intervene. Before one of them said something stupid that they would regret.

"Ellie, get out of the water, I'll handle this," I patted her shoulder before giving her a gentle push.

"But, Lexa," she looked at me with those beautiful eyes, so full of pain, and my heart clenched.

"Hey," I grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "I'll sort this. Just get back to dry land."

My twin stared at me for a moment, looking for something in my gaze, before she nodded and turned away. I waited until she was out of earshot before speaking.

"Damon, I have to help her," I looked up at my vampire, biting my lip as I realised that I had managed to get myself into a shitty situation. Again.

"It's a full moon, tonight, Ally," Damon sighed, reaching forward to brush a loose strand of hair away from my face.

"We'll find him before then," I captured his hand and held it close to my chest. "And if the sun sets and we haven't found him, then we'll get out of here. I won't give Ellie a choice."

My vampire stared at me before shaking his head, "Are you sure?"

I sighed, "I know what she's doing is stupid and reckless. But I just… I have to help her. At least then, she'll be safer."

"Okay," Damon agreed and I couldn't stop myself from beaming up at him.

"Thank you," I gave his hand a squeeze before letting it go. Now that he had agreed to help, I could get out of the freezing cold water. "Why did you push me in, anyway? You knew that I wasn't the one causing trouble."

"Maybe I just wanted to enjoy the view of a wet top," my vampire winked at me, one of his eviler smirks on his face. It took me a second to realise the meaning behind his words. And for the first time, it occurred to me that I was wearing a white tank top. Which was now soaking wet.

I glanced down to confirm that yes, my top had gone see-through, before rolling my eyes, "You're an ass."

"Mmm, but I'm your ass," Damon whispered into my ear and I could just feel myself blushing. Stupid vampires. It was totally unfair that he knew how to get himself out of trouble.

"Uh, Ellie?" I called as I reached the bank. "Any chance that I can borrow your top? I appear to be having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction."

My twin glanced over her shoulder at me, took one look, and immediately nodded, "Let me grab it. Trust you to wear white."

"It's not like I knew that the evil one over there would throw me into the water," I rolled my eyes, accepting the top when she passed it over. "I'm just lucky that you double layered today."

The other two turned around, giving me some privacy while I stripped off my white tank top. I hung it on a nearby branch and turned around. Only to realise that a certain someone was still facing me. I raised my eyebrow at Damon, enjoying the hungry look on his face. I was very much aware that I was just wearing my pale pink bra. And that this was technically the first time that Damon was seeing me like this. But I couldn't let that thought distract me. I pulled on the shirt that my sister leant me, buttoning it up while the fabric stuck to my wet skin.

Once I was suitably covered up, I cleared my throat, "We ready to get going again?"

I was just about able to ignore Damon's purred, "Definitely no regrets."

XXX

With the summer heat, it didn't take long for us to start drying off. Of course, that didn't stop Damon from making sly remarks about our wet clothes. Not even Ric's disapproving parental looks didn't stop the vampire.

Now that Damon was with us, I was able to relax a little bit. I now had backup in the form of a vampire and a vampire hunter. Nothing was going to get anywhere near my sister. And I knew that if Stefan really was in the area, he wouldn't let her get either. So if she had to be here, then at least she was safe.

The further up the ridge we got, the harder it was for the less active of our group. Elena was struggling with the steepness of the slope. I was doing a bit better, but I was refusing to be the weakest amongst us. Especially since Ric was giving me approving looks due to my lack of complaints.

"How you doing?" Damon smirked at my sister as she struggled with the uneven surface.

"Fine," she snapped back. Ellie was still unhappy about the whole being thrown into the water incident. I had gotten over it. Although I wasn't best pleased at having to leave my tank top behind. But with it being soaking wet, it wouldn't have been practical to pack it. So I just told Damon that he owed me a shopping trip.

"You know, I could help you," my vampire glanced over his shoulder at me, and I could see that he was enjoying winding my sister up. Not gonna lie, I was enjoying it too. I could just as much enjoyment as I would have if I was the one annoying her. But by not being the one to do it, I was able to escape being moaned at.

"No thanks," my sister rolled her eyes and kept on moving. Although she did reach out for me to steady her every now and then. I had Damon to steady me when he needed. Which was something that he enjoyed, as I felt him touch the bare skin around my hips every time he did so.

"Just one little fwoosh," Damon rolled his eyes at my giggle. I knew that he could have found a better way of describing it, but he had chosen that way for a reason.

"Yeah, with my luck, you'd drop me," Elena huffed as we reached a particularly steep part. We paused for a moment and I took the opportunity to down some water.

"What are you guys, twelve?" Ric scoffed, shaking his head at the other two.

"Lol, they totally are," I stuck my tongue out at my twin when she gave me a dirty look.

"You're just as bad, Lexa," she shot back and I shrugged.

"I don't pretend otherwise," I darted behind Ric when Ellie looked like she was tempted to push me back down the hill. "Begone, demon."

My twin rolled her eyes at me and continued to make her way up the slope. Damon followed he, a cheeky look on his face. I went to go after them but a hand on my arm stopped me. I glanced to the side to see Ric.

"I wasn't the only one to tell Damon what we were up to, was I?" he asked softly as Elena berated Damon for something ahead of us.

I shrugged as started to slowly follow the other two, "He told me to let him know if Ellie did something stupid. And I knew that we would need him. Sorry for letting you take all the blame."

"It's fine," Ric sighed as he helped me up a particularly steep step. "I understand why you did."

"Elena wouldn't tell me about her stupid stunts if she thought that I would tell on her," I said before biting my lip. "Do you think that she suspects that I told on her too?"

"Nah," the hunter shook his head. "I think Damon covered for you perfectly."

"Well, you did too," I reached out to fist bump his shoulder. "Can't let him take all the credit."

"Of course not," Ric laughed as we caught up with the other two. "Glad to see that you haven't killed each other yet."

"It was tempting," Ellie rolled her eyes before staying close to Ric. While she occupied herself with asking questions, I walked ahead to join my vampire.

"Enjoy the view earlier?" I asked casually, keeping my gaze fixed firmly ahead of me. But out of the corner of my eye, I could see Damon's shit-eating grin.

"Oh yes," he purred and I couldn't stop myself from glancing over. He had that hungry look back in his eye and I could feel myself blushing again.

"Well, good," I rolled my eyes. "You know, you're gonna make me break all of my rules."

"Is that so?" Damon smirked and I reached out to swat his shoulder.

"That isn't a good thing, Day," I laughed, shaking my head at him. "Those rules are there for a reason."

"Rules were made to be broken," I could feel Damon walking closer to me, his shoulder brushing mine.

"Don't be cheeky," I grinned, shaking my head again. "Rule breaking isn't allowed until after the first date."

"Good to know," Damon gave me one of his sweeter smiles and grabbed my hand. Despite the other two walking behind us, I allowed myself to enjoy holding my boyfriend's hand. Was I even allowed to call him my boyfriend before we went on our first date? Would Damon even accept the title of boyfriend?

Ugh, I had to stop overthinking this.

Luckily, I was suitable distracted by Damon leaning in close to whisper in my ear, "You might want to button up another button." I shivered as his breath caressed my ear. "Before you show Ric any more than you already have."

I glanced down to see that one of my buttons had come undone. And of course, it would be the one that showed off more of my cleavage than I was comfortable. Especially with Ric around.

"Thanks for the save," I whispered as I buttoned up.

"I'm the only one that gets to enjoy that view," Damon growled in my ear and I felt myself get hot all over. Ah fuck, I was so screwed.

XXX

We still weren't at the top when the sun started to set. As darkness fell, I could feel the atmosphere amongst the group turn uncomfortable. No one wanted to be the one to mention the setting sun. We were supposed to start heading back now, but I knew that Elena wouldn't turn back now. We were too close for that.

Eventually, Ric sighed, "We got about a mile left."

I exchanged a look with Damon, who casually remarked, "The sun's about to set."

Elena kept on walking, refusing to look back at the rest of us, "I can see that, Damon."

"Do you also see that it's getting incredibly dark?" I shrugged at the dirty look that my twin gave me. "Cos only one of us can see in the dark with no issues."

"Look, the moon doesn't reach its apex for a while," Ellie shook her head. "We have time. And Ric packed torches."

"Fine, but if I twist an ankle, then I'm telling Jenna that it's all your fault," I rolled my eyes, ignoring Elena's dramatic sigh. It was a good point; torches were only good if they were pointed at the ground. And if they were pointed at the ground, then they were being used to look for errant werewolves. And there was no way in hell that I was going to risk Damon being bit again. Especially since we had no way of getting the cure.

The sound of twigs snapping had us all freezing. I reached out to pull my sister closer to us. The sound continued to echo around us and I could hear Ric curse behind us. I heard the sound of a zip behind us and was suddenly so grateful that Ric was so well stocked.

When a body emerged from the darkness, Damon gently pushed me behind him. I let him; my mind filled with memories from the last time I encountered a werewolf. I was definitely not keen to experience that again.

"Stay where you are!" Ric shouted, holding up his crossbow at the stranger. The poor guy looked absolutely awful. Blood was smeared around his face and dripped from his eyes. His plaid shirt was coated in it and I wondered what the hell he had been through. But it was the look in his eyes that had my blood running cold. There was an insanity there, one that made me regret allowing Elena to step foot in these woods.

The man, werewolf, stranger took one look at us before his gaze honed in on Damon. His lip curled up into a snarl, "Vampire."

Damon shrugged, a hard look on his face as he stepped forward, blocking me from the werewolf's view. I grabbed Ellie and pushed her between me and Ric. Everything was silent for a moment, almost as though the world had taken a breath and was waiting to let it out.

And when it did, everything happened in a blur.

The werewolf rushed forward a lot quicker than he probably should have. Damon blurred forward and pulled the werewolf away from us. I went to step forward, a desperate need to help my vampire, but Elena grabbed me. She tugged me down to the ground and hissed in my ear, "Get the wolfsbane grenade."

The super werewolf managed to push Damon against a nearby tree. His strength was scary and I just knew that he wasn't a normal werewolf. His eyes turned yellow as his fangs grew. His head snapped forward, trying to take a chunk out of Damon's neck. It was only his vampire strength that stopped him from being bitten.

Ric shot an arrow at the super wolf, but it had no effect. He still kept on trying to bite my Damon. And I was not going to let that happen. I dug through the backpack, looking for the grenade that was put there earlier.

"Yes!" I hissed when I managed to find it. Remembering what Ric had taught me before, I pulled the pin from the grenade before calling out, "Damon!"

His gaze met mine and I threw him the grenade. I held my breath as I hoped that I had aimed properly. Because despite all of my recent training, I was still shit at throwing. But luckily, the adrenaline that was coursing through my body had helped.

Damon grabbed the grenade and smashed it against the werewolf's face. He screamed as the combination of wolfsbane and glass burned his face. He immediately let go of my vampire and collapsed to his knees, clutching his face.

Damon wasted no time in kicking him in the stomach and then the face, knocking him out. Damon panted as he stared down at the werewolf. It took me barely a second to push myself to my feet and run over to him. Without even looking, my vampire opened his arms for me. I wrapped myself around him, squeezing him tight. Damon's arms held me close to him as I made sure that he hadn't been bitten.

Thankfully, he had managed to escape this encounter without being bitten. He rested his chin on my head as the other two approached. We all stared down at the unconscious body, wondering what the hell we had gotten ourselves into.

Ric shook his head before groaning, "Let me guess. Hybrid."

I stared down at the body with wide eyes. That would explain the speed and strength. And it meant that we were even more fucked. Klaus was making more of him. Actually, no wait, even worse thought. This meant that Klaus was here. I had to get Elena out of here. I didn't care if we were close to getting to Stefan. Klaus being here changed all the rules.

"Think we can get away before he wakes up?" I asked quietly, clutching onto Damon. I told myself that it was to comfort him but I knew that I just needed to comfort myself.

"Doubt it," Ric sighed, shrugging off his backpack to see what we could use to take out the new threat.

"No," Ellie's voice drew everyone's attention to her. "I want to find out what he knows."

"Of course you do," I groaned, shaking my head.

Damon stroked my back before sighing, "Let's get this over with."

XXX

It was just luck that Ric had packed a lot of rope. Why he had a lot of rope, I had no idea. But it was just lucky that he did. The two men took charge of tying the hybrid to the tree. Ellie and I were responsible for untangling the rope and passing it to the guys.

"These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer," Damon sighed, tightening the one he had in his hands. "What else do we have?"

I was holding out our last rope while Ellie sprayed it with vervain. As a hybrid, we were working on the theory that he was affected by vervain as well as wolfsbane. Either way, it wasn't like it would make him stronger. So if our theory was wrong, then we wouldn't be causing any trouble.

"Ric, here," Elena called over to the hunter once we had finished spraying. "Take these."

She held them out but the wrong person went to grab them. I was barely able to call out his name before his hand touched the vervain-soaked ropes. The second he touched it, his skin began to burn. The vampire hissed and immediately pulled his hand back.

"I said Ric," my sister shrugged casually, walking over to Ric to pass the rope to him instead.

I pouted and walked over to my vampire, "You okay?"

He shook his hand and glanced down at me, "It's already healed."

"Sorry I wasn't quick enough to warn you," I shuffled my feet as I sighed. I knew that it wasn't my fault, but I didn't like it when Damon got hurt. It made things feel weird and I knew that it was because I loved him.

"It's fine, I should have been paying attention," Damon shrugged, stroking my back while Ric and Elena finished tying up the hybrid. I sighed and shuffled closer to my vampire. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as the other two stepped away from the tree.

"Alright, that's the last of the vervain," Ric picked his backpack up before handing the other one to Elena. "We don't have enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that Ridge before the full moon."

My sister had a determined look on her face as she approached the hybrid, "If we can get him to talk, we don't have to."

Ellie reached out, looking to wake up the hybrid. I mean, she had a point. If we could get our answers from him, then we wouldn't have to get to the ridge. But it would also be more dangerous. It had already tried to attack us once; it wasn't impossible to believe that he would do it again. But before her hand could touch his face, the hybrid woke up and started screaming. I jolted in shock at the sudden noise. Damon tightened his grip on me while Ric dragged Ellie away from the screaming hybrid.

And then the worst started the happen. The hybrid's bones started to crack in a sickeningly familiar way. His eyes flashed yellow as his screaming reached a new level.

"Is he turning?" Damon yelled over the screams, looking at us with wide eyes. I gripped tightly to him, wincing at the screams.

"It's impossible," Ellie shook her head, stepping backwards. "It's still daylight."

"Tell him that," Ric remarked, sounding annoyingly calm, as Damon passed me over to him. I went to reach out for my vampire, to pull him back to me. But Damon decided to be annoyingly noble. He stepped in front of the hybrid, pressing on his shoulders to keep him pinned to the tree.

"There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here," there was panic hidden in my sister's tone. "Not until the moon is full."

"And now there is," I tugged on Ric's arm, he was holding me back from running over to Damon. Which was not making me happy but I wasn't focusing on that right now. I just wanted to help Damon. "So how about we get the hell out of here?"

"Alexa's right," Ric agreed, tightening his grip on me. "Those ropes aren't going to hold a wolf."

The hybrid screamed louder as his bones started shifting. The sounds made my stomach turn but I couldn't focus on that. I just needed to get Damon away from him. I couldn't risk Damon getting bitten. I couldn't lose him.

"Day, get away from him," I shouted, trying to get close to him but I was stopped. One day, I would appreciate Ric being sensible, but that day was not today. I had to look after my vampire.

It took barely a second for my sister to agree, "Damon, we have to get out of here!"

"Thank you, even the crazy one is speaking sensibly," I waved wildly at my sister. "So let's get the hell out of these mountains. Damon, please."

I liked to think that it was my pleading that got Damon to change his mind. But at the end of the day, I didn't care what it was. I just cared about the fact that he didn't do something stupid.

As the hybrid's fangs elongated, my vampire finally pulled away from him. He quickly backed away and grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Ric.

"Elena, run!" Damon ordered, pulling me along with him. "I've got your sister. Ric, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

The hunter nodded as he bolted after my sister. Damon changed his grip from my arm to my hand. He gave it a squeeze as the screams behind us turned into howls. Honestly, it was just our luck to be running away from a hybrid. I had planned for everything that I could, but a hybrid? Nah, never thought that I would have to deal with that.

"Ally, less thinking more running," Damon murmured as he tugged me forward. I shook my head and did as asked. I could do my usual overthinking thing later. For now, I had to focus on not being eaten. Cos that would not be fun. And adding hybrid to the list of things that had killed me was not on my to-do list.

XXX

Night had truly fallen while we ran back down the mountain. We could hear snarling behind us but we didn't know if he was actually following us. Once the sun had set, Damon had been forced to go in front, to guide us down the mountain. While the light of the full moon was enough to stop us from running into trees, it wasn't enough for Ric to be able to guide us.

I stuck by my twin's side, unwilling to let her out of my sight. I knew that she wouldn't do anything stupid, not now. But with the danger potentially chasing us, I didn't want anything to happen to her. Of course, I was so focused on looking after my sister, that I forgot to keep an eye on myself.

I glanced behind me, just to make sure that Ellie was still running and that there were no wolves in sight. It was then that I did an Alexa, and tripped. I cursed every tree in existence as I fell to the ground. My palms scrapped against the floor as I let out an 'oof'.

I groaned and pushed myself to my hands and knees. Luckily, it didn't feel as though I was bleeding. But I knew that I needed to keep moving. I was just about to push myself to my feet when a quiet voice warned, "Don't move."

I immediately froze.

I heard a huff in front of me and I closed my eyes for a second. I just knew what was in front of me. And of course that would be my luck. Because why not. What else could go wrong today?

Raising my head, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from screaming. The hybrid wolf stood in front of me. Its lips were curled into a snarl and I just knew that I was going to be eaten. It glanced to the side before huffing again. Its yellow eyes reflected the insanity from the man it was before. There would be no reasoning with this creature.

"Here, doggie, doggie," Damon smirked, giving me a wink before he disappeared from my sight. The wolf quickly followed, snarling viciously. It took me a second to realise what had happened and once it did, I was scrambling to my feet.

"Damon!" I shouted after him, going to run after him when a strong hand caught my arm. "Ric, let me go! I need to help Damon!"

"Nope, you need to keep moving," the hunter disagreed, pulling me away from the direction that Damon went. "Come on, Alexa."

"No, we need to go after him," I tried to pull away but I knew that Ric wouldn't let me go. "We can't leave him!"

"He can handle himself," Ric shook his head, turning around to rest a hand on my shoulder. "Let's move."

"But Ric, I'm the one who told him to come out here, if he gets bit, then that's my fault. His death would be on me."

"I told him too, it's not just on you," Ric sighed and I could see the offended look on my sister's face out of the corner of my eye. "I told him where we are and I'm telling you to keep moving. Damon will be fine, okay? So let's go." The hunter glanced over my shoulder at my sister, "Elena, you too."

I continued to protest as Ric directed me back down the mountain. I just couldn't leave Damon behind. No matter what Ric said, I was the one who told the vampire first. I was directly responsible for this. And… I couldn't lose him. Not so soon after admitting how I felt about him.

Logically, I knew that Damon could look after himself. He had fought wolves before and survived. But this was a hybrid. It was a whole new set of rules. I mean, it started to turn while the sun was still out. God knows what other things it could do.

He was only out here because of me. Because he cared about me. And because he didn't want me to lose my sister. He had given up on Stefan. Maybe I should have persuaded Elena to do the same. God, I was such a bad sister for thinking that. But Damon meant so much to me.

"Ric, I can't lose him," I admitted quietly as I stopped struggling. I hated myself for sounding so vulnerable, especially in front of my sister. But I just couldn't help it. Ric suspected that something had changed between me and Damon, I had seen the look on his face while me and my vampire spoke earlier.

"You're not going to," Ric sighed, looking around for a moment before pausing. "Look, Damon can handle a hybrid. He's old enough that he can fight and you know how stubborn he can be."

"So, you think he'll be alright?" I asked, glancing around as though hoping the vampire would just appear out of the darkness. "Cos, I can't be the reason why he dies."

"You won't be the reason why he dies," Ric wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "He'll be fine and back to annoying us before you know it."

"Well, if he can arrive back before my sister bites my head off, that would be great," I winced as she stormed past me. "Cos she is going to kill me after finding out that I told on her too."

I knew that I would pay for my confession. I hadn't meant for her to find out, especially like that. But my worry for Damon just had the words blurting out of me. If she had to find out, then I had hoped that she would find out in a calmer manner.

Oh lord, I hoped that Damon came back before she killed me. Because I saw the look on her face. That was her murder face, and only my vampire would be able to save me.

XXX

Ric had forced us back to the car. He had even made sure to hold my arm on the journey to it. Clearly he knew me far too well, as I definitely would have gone chasing after Damon if given the opportunity.

But while it stopped me from bolting after my vampire, it was probably a good thing that Ric was holding on to me, as I definitely would have fallen over at some point. Not only was it dark out, I kept on looking behind us for any sign of Damon.

Ellie just marched on next to me, not talking to either of us. I knew that she was mad over my admission that I had also called in vampire backup. But she had to understand why. I didn't do it to betray her, I did it to keep her stupid ass alive.

Once we arrived at the car, I was relegated to the backseat. Which was totally unfair as Elena got to be in the front on the way here. I mean, yeah, she was the one driving, but it was still unfair. So I made my feelings known by crossing my arms and pouting.

It took quite some time for the silence to be broken, and it was by the most unlikely candidate.

"Stefan's out there somewhere and now, Damon," Elena shook her head, glancing out the window at the dark mountain. "And we're just sitting in this car?"

"Let the vampires fight the hybrid zombie mountain man," Ric sighed, clicking the lock button as he noticed me fidgeting. "I'll take care of keeping the humans safe."

"But Ric," I groaned, rolling my eyes as I tugged uselessly on the door handle. "I can keep myself safe. You and Damon have been teaching me how to do so all summer."

"Alexa, there's a difference between fighting a vampire with backup and taking on a crazed hybrid wolf," Ric's eyes caught mine in the mirror. "And just think how Jenna would feel if you got eaten."

"Well, obviously, you'd blame it all on Ellie," I rolled my eyes as my sister finally turned around to look at me.

"I can't believe you called Damon," she sounded so offended and had to sigh. "You know what this means to me."

If I was in a better frame of mind, then I would have softened my next words. But my worry for Damon was overpowering everything. He was alone, fighting a hybrid wolf whose bite could kill him, and he had no one to help him out.

"Ellie, finding Stefan means absolutely nothing if you die doing so," I tried to ignore the hurt look in her eyes as I tried to give some tough love. "We will find him, but we will do it sensibly. Which was why I called Damon."

My twin's eyes scanned my face and I tried to look as genuine as possible. I meant what I said. But I would also give up finding Stefan if it meant keeping my sister alive. Klaus won't keep him around forever and he will come back at some point, so it really wasn't worth Elena giving up her life for him.

Eventually, my twin sighed and shook her head, "I understand why you did it. Even if I'm not happy about it. But next time, talk to me first?"

"Only if you promise to listen," I nodded, relieved that my stubborn sister was seeing sense. It wasn't often that she backed down, in fact, I could count those times on my fingers. So I was incredibly relieved that she had done so this time.

"Okay, I promise," she agreed with a soft smile. I beamed back and reached out to give her hand a squeeze. I was about to say something else when Ric interrupted the twin moment.

"Damon," the vampire hunter said, pointing outside the car. I immediately spun around and tugged on the door handle.

"Ric, lemme out," I demanded, eager to go make sure that my vampire was okay. The second the lock clicked, I was bolting out the car. I didn't even care that I nearly fell over while climbing out, I was just too desperate to see my vampire.

"Damon," I breathed out as I came to a stop in front of him. I reached out to check him over but the vampire grabbed my hands before I could. "Are you alright? Did you get bit? What happened?"

"Ally, breath," he said softly, giving my hands a squeeze. "I'm fine. Bite-free. Just get back into the car, please."

"Nope, I'm not leaving your side," I shook my head, a stubborn look on my face. Now that I had him back, I was not letting my vampire out of my sight. I knew that Ric would look after Elena for me. Not that she was going to do anything stupid now.

"You're not gonna take no for an answer, are you?" Damon rolled his eyes but he let me continue holding his hands.

"Nope," I confirmed as the vampire wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"What did I do to get such a stubborn girl like you?" Damon sighed into my hair before raising his voice. "Hey, Ric, take Elena home? I'll meet you there with Alexa."

Ric nodded his affirmative before locking the doors again. I could see Elena protesting and just rolled my eyes. I knew that she wanted to check on Damon herself. Despite her attitude towards him, they were actually friends. He had even given her back the vervain necklace that Stefan had given her back in the day.

While the other two drove off, Damon escorted me over to his car. I knew that he wouldn't let me fall over so I just closed my eyes and enjoyed his embrace. I could hear the vampire muttering to himself as he looked for his car in the dark.

I knew when he found it as I felt cool metal against my back. I opened my eyes to see Damon staring down at me, his eyes shining in the moonlight. My breath caught in my throat as his silver gaze stared into mine.

"You are incredibly reckless," he said softly, brushing the stray strands of hair from my face.

"Not as reckless as you," I retorted quietly. Before I could say anything else, strong lips captured mine. I wrapped my arms around Damon's neck as his rested on my hips. For the first time that evening, I relaxed.

XXX

It took quite some time to get home. For one thing, I just couldn't stop kissing Damon. Now that I knew that he was okay, I just didn't want to let go of him. Plus, his lips really were too damn irresistible. And Damon insisted on keeping a hand on my thigh on the drive home, which meant that he drove slower than normal. It didn't help that at every red light, he pulled me closer for a hungry kiss. Not that I was complaining, but it meant that it was after midnight when we finally made it home.

Elena was waiting for me when I walked through the front door. My vampire had followed me, a hand resting on my hip.

"Ellie, why are you still up?" I asked as I came to a sudden stop. It was only his vampire reflexes that stopped Damon from walking into me.

"I was waiting for you," my sister shrugged, getting up from her spot on the sofa. "What took you so long?"

I coughed and looked anywhere but my twin, "Uh, there was traffic."

I could hear Damon hiding a laugh behind me and elbowed him. If I had any chance of convincing my sister, he had to play along. Although, from the look on her face, I hadn't done a very good job at convincing her in the first place. Luckily, she just rolled her eyes and let it be.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone out there without speaking to you first, Damon," my sister sighed and shook her head. "I just… I need to find him."

"You don't need to apologise, Elena," Damon walked closer to my sister, tugging me with him. "I was wrong."

For the first time in a while, Ellie was speechless. And I kinda enjoyed it. Even if I was wondering what Damon was talking about. It took a few seconds for my sister to find her voice.

"Wrong about what?" she asked, exchanging a glance with me.

"I though Stefan was gone, but I was wrong," the vampire sighed as he settled down on the arm of the sofa. I sat down next to him, resting my shoulder against his thigh.

Elena was on that in an instance, the mere mention of her boyfriend's name throwing all shame out of the window, "You saw him out there? Damon, is he okay?"

"No, he's not okay, Elena," Damon rolled his eyes and I could see my sister freeze in her place. I winced at his words. That was not good. "He's an insufferable martyr that needs his ass kicked… but he can be saved."

As my twin staggered back a step in relief, I slapped the vampire's arm, "Omg, don't scare us like that."

Damon glanced down at me with an apologetic look in his eye before he grabbed my hand. I rolled my eyes as I accepted his apology and rested my head against his side.

Once Ellie had recovered, she instantly demanded, "What happened out there? What changed your mind?"

"I changed my mind because even in his darkest place, my brother still can't let me die," my vampire almost sounded mad at that. But I knew that he was just frustrated. I knew that Damon just wanted to forget his guilt, to pretend that his brother was lost for now. But after Stefan had saved his life again, he just had to help him. He couldn't even pretend otherwise for a while. "So I figure I owe him the same in return. I'll help you bring him back."

"Thank you," my twin smiled softly and I sighed at the relief in her eyes. At least she would have vampire backup the next time she did something stupid.

Now that she had ensured that she would have help in saving Stefan, my sister was content to go upstairs to her room. I watched go before glancing up at Damon. He had a soft look on his face as he reached out to gently stroke my cheek.

"Thank you for telling me about Elena's little stunt with the werewolf pack," he said as I rose to my feet. I stood between his legs as he rested his hands on my hips.

"I made you a promise," I shrugged, enjoying the way his fingers snuck beneath my top to stroke the skin of my hips. "I wasn't gonna break that."

"Hmm, I appreciate that," my vampire smirked gently before tugging me forward. "I have to go now before Jenna comes down with a crossbow. But be ready for seven tomorrow night, I'll pick you up then."

"Looking forward to it," I laughed before leaning down for a kiss. "Night Damon."

"Goodnight Alexa," I just loved the happy look in his eyes as he pulled me in for one more kiss before leaving. I watched as my vampire left the house before sighing. Damn, I hated it when he left. I shook my head and made my way upstairs.

As I reached the top, I paused as I saw that my sister's door was still open. Shrugging, I approached the door and leant against the doorframe. Elena was sitting on her window seat, writing in her diary.

"Hey Ellie," I called softly, waiting until she glanced up before continuing. "Why did you change your mind earlier?"

"What do you mean?" she frowned, setting aside her journal.

"Elena, you weren't going to leave that mountain, not without being dragged," I knew that I shouldn't be pushing the point, but I just had to know. "But after the hybrid starting turning, you just changed your mind. Why?"

"You just said it, Lexa, the hybrid was turning and we were in danger," I could see that my sister was trying to avoid answering the question.

"You say that like me and Ric don't have magic rings," I snorted, shaking my head. "And like we didn't have a bag full of weapons. There was nothing stopping us from carrying on."

"It was too dangerous, Lexa," Elena stood up and put her back to me. I rolled my eyes and walked over, forcing her to face me.

"Elena, going out there was dangerous, so don't try it," I held her shoulder so that she couldn't turn around again. "Just tell me."

"Because Damon was in more danger than we were," Ellie sighed, shaking her head. "And I didn't want you to lose him."

Oh.

Well, damn, now I loved her even more. And were my feelings for Damon really that obvious?

XXX

As it got closer to seven, the more I was freaking out. This was a big thing, like, it was our first official date. And damn, I did not think that I was going to be as panicked as I was. I wanted it to go well. Because what if it went awfully and Damon regretted asking me out. Oh god, I was overthinking this way too much.

Since Caroline was MIA, I dragged a hungover Jenna out shopping with me. As much as I wanted to keep my new relationship a secret, I needed help finding the perfect dress. And I trusted Jenna to keep the secret for me. Especially since she was still kind of hungover and lot easier to manipulate.

After losing track of how many dresses I tried on, I finally found a nice little black dress. It had a lace outer layer that flared out at my shoulders and around my thighs. It was a little more low cut than I normally went for. But since Damon already knew me, I didn't mind flashing a bit of cleavage. Plus, I loved it when he got that hungry look in his eyes.

I started getting ready way to early, even with stopping off to give my hungover aunt her promised McDonalds. But I was not able to stay calm and be patient. So I had fun with my hair, letting it's natural wave stand out. I then used Caroline's favourite trick to get the perfect smoky eyes look. I figured that I might as well go all out. It wasn't often that I got to go out and look hot.

Once I was ready, I lurked in my bedroom. The last thing I needed was for my family to ask any questions. Jenna had retreated back to her bed once we got home, which was hilarious. I knew that she would be okay tomorrow, two days was her limit for hangovers. But it gave me the perfect opportunity to tease her about how old she was now.

Luckily, Damon texted me when he arrived. I got the feeling that he wanted to keep this relationship quiet too. Especially since he was likely to get the 'shovel talk' from everyone. Which sucked, as no one would give it to me on his behalf. But anyways, I grabbed my shawl and bolted down the stairs. How I didn't break my neck with my pumps, I didn't know. But I managed to get to the bottom with no broken bones.

I yelled out a quick goodbye before slamming the door shut behind me. I could hear Elena asking where I was going but I didn't hang around for her to follow me out. The last thing I needed was for my sister to find out. She wouldn't let me live it down.

I took a deep breath just before I opened the car door. My heart was pounding in my chest and my hands were sweaty. Damn, I should not be feeling this nervous. Calm down, Alexa, you have nothing to worry about. This was Damon. Not some stranger. You knew Damon, you loved him and trusted him. Everything was gonna be fine.

"Hey," I smiled breathlessly as I closed the car door behind me. Damon smiled back at me, a soft look in his eyes before he immediately glanced down. I could feel myself blushing as he eyed up my cleavage. He was so predictable lol.

"Ready to go?" my vampire asked as he reluctantly removed his gaze from my boobs. I shifted in my seat, showing off a good amount of thigh and nodded.

"Definitely," I laughed, feeling my heart easing in my chest. Now that I was here with him, my nerves were gone. We had gone out to dinner before, we had hung out together. Yeah, it was different because we were technically dating now. But it still felt easy.

"You look lovely," Damon leant forward for a teasing kiss before he started driving. I tried to pull him in for another kiss before he pulled away from the curb, but I wasn't quick enough.

"Why thank you," I shrugged, brushing my hair back over my shoulder. "Jenna helped me pick it out. Well, kind of, she just nodded and drank more coffee."

"She still hungover?" Damon laughed, shaking his head.

I rolled my eyes, "With the amount of wine that she drank, I'm surprised that she has recovered as much as she has."

"Jealous?"

"Oh please, I can drink as much as I want and only suffer for one day. If I'm uber lucky, I can get away with no hangover."

My vampire rolled his eyes, "That's only when I force you to drink water in between shots."

"Well, yeah," I laughed, enjoying the happy look in his eyes. "But the fact of the matter is, I don't get a hangover."

Damon continued to tease me all the way to the restaurant. But it felt different this time. There was this heated tension in the air, like lightening crackling between us, and his hand rested on my thigh at every red light.

He eventually pulled up outside a restaurant in Grove Hill. My curiosity was piqued at the unassuming look of the place. There was nothing flashy to it and the interior looked like your standard place. The name of the restaurant caught my eye, 'The Thai Garden', and I spun around to look at my vampire.

"We're having Thai?" I gasped in excitement, buzzing in my seat.

There was a smug look in Damon's eyes, "I know you love Thai food. And it's the best place in the tri-state area."

My heart clenched at his words. He knew me so well and he was so sweet. He took me for Thai food on our first date. Ugh, how did I get so lucky with this guy?

He escorted me in with an arm wrapped around my waist. While he got our table sorted, I just gazed around the room. It was such a cute little place. Each table had a red rose and a candle. It was surprisingly empty but I wasn't going to complain. I didn't want to share anyone with Damon. One of the waitresses glanced over at him with an admiring gaze. So I did something that I had always wanted to do; I wrapped my free arm around him and stared her down.

"You are hilarious," Damon whispered into my hair as we were escorted to our table. He had managed to get us one in the corner, and not gonna lie, it was kind romantic.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I sniffed as I took my seat. We both knew that I was lying but that was the fun part. My need to be territorial over Damon was allowed now. He was officially mine and I could warn other girls away. "OMG they have prawn spring rolls. They are so hard to find right now. Oh and katsu curry. And pad Thai, oh wow that picture looks amazing."

Damon laughed, deep and throaty and it made my body tingle, "You can choose whatever you want tonight."

"You might regret saying that," I smiled over at him as I placed the menu to the side. "Cos I might decide to skip straight to dessert."

There was a hungry look in the vampire's eyes as I winked at him. His eyes glanced down as I leant forward, giving him a good view, "You know how to be a tease."

"You love it," I smirked, reaching forward to hold his hand. I loved being able to do this. To just touch him and tease him and show off for him. I had waited so long to be able to do this. And now I finally could. I was almost giddy with happiness.

My boyfriend (eeek!) just laughed at me, "Yeah, I do. I love it so much that I won't try to persuade you to break your rule."

I was almost disappointed that he wasn't going to. But I did appreciate it. After all, I didn't want him to form a bad opinion of me. And we had all the time in the world to get naughty. Wink wink.

"Aren't you sweet?" I smiled cheekily as his thumbs stroked the backs of my hands. I could feel myself getting all tingly again. Damn, I wasn't the only tease in the room tonight. And he knew that I wouldn't break my rule.

"Only for you, Ally," there was a soft look in his eyes again and my smile turned sweet.

"I'm really glad that we're doing this," I admitted, glancing away for a moment. "It's been a long time coming."

"Me too," Damon admitted and the vulnerable look in his eyes had my breath catching in my throat. "After everything that happened, I did wonder if we ever would."

"I always knew that we would," I bit my lip before sighing. "I was just scared that you didn't feel the same way. And, if I'm gonna be totally honest, I haven't always been the luckiest in the romance department. And you're so important to me, Day, that I didn't want to risk losing you, even if it meant hiding my feelings."

"You'll never lose me, Ally, not even a werewolf bite could separate us."

Dinner was a quiet affair, although the pleased look in Damon's eyes as I enjoyed the food warmed my heart. I even did something that I never usually did; I shared my food with him. I even shared my dessert with him. Everything just felt so comfortable, like we had been doing this forever. Even with Luke, it never felt like this.

After we finished, Damon took me to a nearby park. We walked, arm in arm, under the stars. I knew that he felt the same way as me. Neither of us wanted this night to end. Everything felt so magical. Damon even gave me his suit jacket when I shivered in the night air. His black shirt gleamed under the lamplight and I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

So, I let myself do what I had wanted to do since he picked me up earlier. I stepped into his arms and my lips met his. I cupped his face while his hands rested on my waist, holding me close. Not to be corny, but damn, it was a magical kiss. It felt even more special than the other ones. Like this one meant something different.

As I reluctantly pulled back for air, I couldn't stop myself from looking up at him. I knew that I was giving him 'heart eyes', as Bonnie frequently referred to it. But I just couldn't stop myself. He was officially my boyfriend. Damon was officially my boyfriend now.

God, I was the luckiest girl on the planet.

XXX

A/N: I was asked for domestic Dalexa, and I didn't want to disappoint ;) in the craziness of their lives, those little moments are the ones that matter. OMG thank you all so much for the reviews, please keep them coming! Until next time, hope you enjoyed xoxo