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An hour later, Damon and I waddled through the woods, laughing as water dripped from our bodies.

We'd enjoyed the river, attempting to drown and splash each other until our bodies had distracted us.

We made love on the bank of the river, and then swam some more.

Eventually, hunger came calling.

"You have to cook for me," I reminded him, "I won the race."

Damon smirked, playing with my hand in his as we made our way through the trees, "A deal is a deal."

"I want pancakes," I told him, "And sausage,and bacon."

He laughed, "Of course you do."

I grinned as we reached the edge of the forest, stepping into the clearing that was the back yard, "And I take my eggs over easy."

Damon froze, pulling me to a stop with him.

Confused, I followed his line of sight, and flushed red.

Alaric stood on the back porch, a group of four our five men with him, human from the smell that hit us then.

Their heads were turned in our direction, eyes wide, as they took in our nudity.

Some of their eyes trailed over my body.

"Fuck," Damon growled, moving to shield me with his own frame.

Alaric kindly ushered the men around the corner of the house, allowing us to hurry inside.

I pulled Damon up the stairs, still hand in hand, and didn't stop until we were in his room, door closed.

I braced myself for his anger.

For having to convince him that killing the innocent humans was not a good idea.

But it wasn't necessary.

Damon had a smirk on his face when I turned to look at him.

"Close one," he pulled me against him.

My eyebrows creased, "You're okay?"

He chuckled, kissing the top of my head, "I'm in too good a mood to let some stupid humans ruin it."

I breathed a sigh of relief, and hugged his waist, "I'm glad."

"Let's shower," he suggested.

I agreed easily, and let him pull me towards his bathroom.

It didn't take us long to clean up, but I had to go back to my room to grab some clothes.

Damon found me there, in front of the long mirror, just as I snapped my bra on.

He came up behind me, his arms closing around my waist.

"Okay."

"Okay?" I asked, as he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Five minutes," he reminded me, as he stared at my reflection, "But I have a few conditions of my own."

I watched his face carefully, in the mirror, "I'm listening."

"We can be together, like we used to, while you're here. And when this is all over, I let you walk away, no comments, no trying to stop you. That's the deal you want?"

I nodded.

"That's not good enough. You're asking me to let you go, Elena. You need to make it worth my while."

I bit my lip, "What did you have in mind?"

"Give me the chance to change your mind. Let go of the anger, the accusations, and give me a real chance to earn your forgiveness...once this Mutt fiasco is over, if you still want to leave, I'll let you go. I'll even convince Alaric not to outcast you as a Mutt. Exactly what you want. Fair's fair. "

My breath caught in my throat.

The offer was enticing, especially if it meant getting to leave freely, and not be branded a Mutt.

But could I really take the chance of him succeeding?

Could I take the risk of trusting him again?

Before I could decide, there was a knock on the door, then it opened.

Damon dropped his hands from my waist as Alaric walked in.

"Hey," he greeted us.

"Hey," I answered back, "Sorry about earlier. We didn't know that-"

Alaric shook his head, silencing me, "No need for apologies. This is your home. You should feel free to be yourself here. We all should. I'm only sorry that I wasn't able to warn you, but I was surprised to find them here myself...now, I don't mean to interrupt, but I need you both downstairs."

"What exactly is going on?" Damon straightened with a hard expression, my lover gone, the Pack's enforcer taking his place.

"Those men were here on behalf of the sheriff. One was a deputy. They wanted to inform us that a search party has been formed to find Ray Sutton. Last anyone's heard, he was heading this way. They want to search the property."

"Then we have to help," I jumped in, "If this is another Mutt trap, there's a chance that body will be on our land."

Ric nodded, "I know. That's why I need you. George and I are staying here with the deputy. But I want the two of you, along with Stefan to help lead the search. You'll be able to smell the body before they see it. If it's out there. Mason and Tyler will run the perimeter, and see if they can catch the scent of the Mutts."

Damon and I both nodded.

"Let's go."

Looks like breakfast would have to wait.

Downstairs, some of the men from before were gathered by the door, more arriving outside.

Up close, I could see that two were wearing police uniforms.

"My son, Damon," Alaric introduced, "And his wife, Elena."

I flinched at the title, but kept my mouth shut.

It was an easy cover, especially given our nudity earlier.

Ric turned to us, "I've given them the layout of the property. The map should be easy enough to follow. You both know where you're going, so I trust we will be thorough."

"Of course," I answered, ignoring the look I was getting from one of the men.

Apparently he hadn't gotten enough of an eyeful before.

Damon seemed to notice this too, as a low growl rumbled through his chest.

"Let's head outside," Alaric suggested, defusing the situation, and the rest of us agreed.

Stefan was in the front yard with George, the sheriff, and a few other men.

One of them, was the hunter that we'd run into at the Grill.

"Oh, hell no," he spat, seeing us, "He's not going!"

He pointed a finger at Damon angrily, "Ray came up to see him! He's the reason he's missing."

"That's enough!" The sheriff insisted.

Alaric stepped forward, "It's fine. Damon can stay here, with me. Elena, you know the property well enough."

I nodded, but Damon opened his mouth to protest.

A rebuttal that was silenced by a sharp look from Alaric.

"Okay," the sheriff agreed, "And thank you, for cooperating."

"Of course," Alaric smiled, "Anything to help."

The men started splitting into groups, and as the sheriff walked off, Stefan came over.

"Fun bunch, aren't they."

Damon turned to his brother, "You keep her in your sight at all times."

Stefan nodded, "Nothing is going to happen, Damon."

"It'll be fine," I agreed, "Don't worry."

Damon gave me a pained look, and I could tell how much he hated letting me go out without him.

Another side effect of our "being together", Damon's instincts flared up, enacting his need to make sure I stayed safe.

But this search needed to be done, and the Mutt's wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything big with this many humans around.

We'd be fine.

The sheriff walked back to us.

"Before we go out," she said, "I do need to ask you a few questions."

She was looking at Damon.

"Alright," he answered stiffly.

"When did you last see Ray Sutton?" She jumped right into it.

"The day he and the others were on our property. When his dog lunged at Elena."

The sheriff briefly looked at me, "His dog is still missing too. But the word is that he was coming up here to speak with you."

Damon was growing annoyed, "I haven't seen him, or the dog."

"I'm sorry," Alaric interrupted, "But are you accusing us of something?"

"Not at all," the sheriff told him, "Just touching all the bases."

"We understand," Ric assured her, "But if you want to cover the entire property today, you should get started."

She nodded, "Yes. Of course. We will try and make it short."

She headed towards the others, and Stefan exhaled, "Showtime."

This chapter was a bit lighter, after the last one, but more drama is to follow.

Please review :)