Okay so finally getting this updated lol

Sorry about the wait, I went across the country for a wedding and have been very busy.

Will try to write more this week.

Anyway, enjoy!

"You can take this one," I told Mason, who blinked at me in surprise.

And he wasn't the only one.

The others must have thought I was losing my damn mind.

I would have probably wondered the same, if my thoughts weren't already occupied with getting back to Elena.

"You never turn down the chance to bloody a Mutt," Stefan mused with a cocked eyebrow, "What gives?"

I pushed off the wall I'd been leaning against in Alaric's study, "Nothing. I just have other things to do. It's a simple punishment run. I'm sure Lockwood can handle that."

Mason nodded, "Yeah, I got it."

He turned, looking at his brother, "You wanna ride?"

Tyler shrugged, "Sure. My classes are over for the week."

"I'll come as well," Enzo said, though his gaze shifted over me knowingly, and I didn't really like the smug smirk that crossed his lips, "After all, you can never be too safe, dealing with these rogues."

"I hear that," Mason nodded, "Okay, cool. We'll leave in an hour then."

He shot me a final look, "And you're sure you don't want in?"
"Nah," I shook my head, "It'll give you guys some practice for a change."

I smirked as Mason rolled his eyes, "Well aren't you a sweetheart."

Mockingly I blew him a kiss, to which he responded to by flipping me off.

I chuckled, "Maybe later, honey."

"Yeah whatever," he pushed off the retort, "Let's get ready!"

And just like that the excitement was back, flooding through his body like fire on dry wood.

He pulled Tyler from the room with him, and I could hear them talking strategy as they headed for the stairs.

Stefan and Enzo remained behind, with me.

"I take it you don't want Alaric to know you're bailing," Enzo teased slightly.

I shot him a hard look, "I'm not bailing. No command was given that it had to be me that took care of the problem."

"No," he agreed, "Because the Alpha assumed that you would-"

"It may come as a surprise to all of you," I interrupted him, "But I am capable of leading a life outside of the Pack."

"Since when?" Stefan prodded, but I wasn't in the mood for his jokes.

"Just call me if there are any complications," I told Enzo.

The male crooked his head, "Are you going to answer this time?"

"For fucks sake," I huffed, "I missed one damn call. It's not like I disappeared off the face of the Earth! I was…"

I halted my sentence, not in the mood to deal with any more of his smug looks, but apparently I'd said too much anyway.

"Busy?" He finished for me, with a raised brow, "With that female, I presume."

"Female?" Stefan inquired, stepping forward, "What female?"

I growled, "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Enzo chuckled, "Really, nothing? Is that why her scent is all over you? Is that why you're letting Mason take lead so you can rush back to campus to be with her? And don't even-," he lifted a hand when I opened my mouth to argue, "-try to deny it, mate. I can feel your flow right now, and given by the way you're dying to lash into me, I'm going to assume I'm hitting a mark."

Annoyance rolled in my chest, my nostrils flaring with the restraint I was showing in not attacking my Pack brother, "It's none of your damn business what I do, or who I do it with," I told him.

He raised his arms in surrender, before pinning me with a stare, "Maybe not. But you need to cop to what's going on with that human. An unacknowledged weakness is dangerous for us all."

He strode from the room then, leaving me with nothing more than my brother to take out my anger on.

"What the hell are you staring at?" I snapped at his confused look.

To Stefan's credit, he didn't flinch away from me, "Was he talking about Lexi's roommate? Elena, wasn't it? You saw her again?"

I flashed my teeth at him, "Yeah, I'm not really in the chatty mood right now."

Now he was getting frustrated, "Well too damn bad. What the hell was he talking about? Did you see her again?"

I exhaled in annoyance, "I've spent some time with her, yes. And the last time I checked, that wasn't a crime."

His brows furrowed, "You hate humans."

I shrugged, "As far as they go, she's...tolerable."

"Meaning you fucked her," Stefan guessed, and for whatever reason, the word grated on my already strained nerves.

"Elena wasn't a fuck. She…" I shook my head, knowing that anything else I could say would be more than he needed to know, "Whatever."

"She what?" he pressed, and I was glad that George and Alaric had stepped out of the house after he'd given us instructions for what needed to be done.

This wasn't exactly a conversation I needed the Alpha to get a whiff of.

"She's better than that," I finished, more honestly than I'd intended, "A hell of a lot better than a drunken sorority girl, so don't class them together, got it?"

His expression wasn't reassured by my defense of her.

"For god's sake," I snapped, "I spent some time with a female. You and Enzo are acting as if I've broken some covenant!"

Stefan shook his head, "I'm just surprised. When you disappear for a few days it's usually because you're hunting, or tracking Mutts. You've never spent more than a night with any of the other girls you've been with."

"I bit her," I told him quietly, the words leaving my mouth before I could think to stop them.

"You've bitten them before," he said, knowing our biology as well as I did, "It always passes."

"This was different," I sighed, running a hand down my face, "The bite was...deeper. She bled."

Stefan flinched now, "How sick was she?"

"She spent a few days in bed with a trashcan at her side, if that tells you anything...I couldn't just leave her."

Now he really seemed surprised, "You felt guilt?"

I rolled my eyes, "Guilt is an emotion specific to those who care."

"So you care about her?" he prompted.

"Fuck off," I growled again.

He backtracked, clearly sensing the turn of my anger, "Alright, alright. It's your business. But Enzo is right. You need to figure out what's going on, at least for yourself."

"Nothing's going on," I insisted.

He shook his head, "If you say so."

The Earth made such a lovely scent when morning sun poured its rays over grass drying from fresh dew.

It was something that I hadn't necessarily forgotten, but surely hadn't appreciated in a long while.

Much like the sight before me.

Elena had brought out a blanket and spread it over the green ground, just off the patio in the back yard.

Daniel and Skylar sat across from her with their legs tucked under them, watching with awe as their mother performed beautiful magic.

I was entranced too, taking in the view.

Elena was clasping her hands together, and pulling them apart to reveal different elements.

A stream of fire, a current of water, a full bloomed rose...she had improved so much in her abilities and was trying to help the twins do the same.

I sat on the edge of the blanket, giving them enough room to practice without interference.

"I can't do it," Skylar said, frustratedly, after watching Daniel summon a handful of water out of thin air.

Elena smiled, reaching over to tuck one of her dark curls behind her ear, "Sure you can. It just takes practice."

So Skylar tried again, and again.

Within an the hour, she'd finally managed to pull fire into her palm, but it lacked the ease that Daniel had accomplished, as he was now able to shift between all the elements effortlessly.

I felt my daughter's disappointment and it pulled at my chest.

"I think that's enough magic practice, for now," I announced, and Elena looked at me, confused.

She'd been wanting to dedicate some time to helping the twins learn to control their powers today.

I winked at her in reassurance and she tilted her head, "What did you have in mind?"

I grinned, looking at the kids, "What do you say we play hide and seek?"

They jumped to their feet, immediately on board.

"Yes, yes, yes!" they chorused, and I chuckled, "Alright, we'll use the woods, but there's rules."

They paused, listening.

"No crossing the river," I told them, "You stick to this side of it. And, no Changing. Try to use your senses in human form to track."

They nodded, then Daniel asked, "Can Michael play too?"

"Sure," I answered easily, "Why don't you go and see if he wants to."

"I'll come too!" Skylar said, taking off after her brother, who was running toward the house.

I watched them go, smirking.

A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, and I felt Elena's head come to rest between my shoulderblades.

"Thanks for doing this," she said, hugging me, "They really have missed spending time with you."

"I miss them, too," I assured her, turning in her arms so that I could look down into her face, "And I've missed you. These past few weeks have just been hectic, and we have another group of post-Changed males coming next month…"

"At least there's only three this time," she pointed out, "It shouldn't be too difficult to shape them up. And Mason's been helping you there."

I nodded, "Yeah, Mason's good with the kids. God knows one of us needs to be. I keep having to fight the urge to snap their arrogant little necks sometimes."

Elena laughed, "They're enjoying their new abilities. Don't be too hard on them."

I smirked, "It helps that I get to kick their asses a little in the combat training….I just hate that we have need for it. But we can't deny that it's better for the packs to be prepared for anything."

"The program was a good idea," she assured me, "We haven't had much Mutt involvement with the packs since it started."

I nodded, then sighed.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if the Mutts are our biggest problem right now."

Elena frowned, "You're thinking of the Order again?"

"Yeah," there was no sense in lying to her, "Something just doesn't feel right about it, no matter what the Bennett witches say. I'm going to take a short trip later this week over to Arizona; visit Richard Lockwood. It was one of his pack members that got the intel about the coven. I need to check it out in person; decide for myself what to believe."

Elena nodded in understanding, "You do what you have to...just, try not to be gone long, okay?"

I smiled, pulling her against me so my lips could place a kiss to her forehead, "I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk, "I doubt that, but thanks."

"I'll leave Klaus here," I told her, "With Caroline pregnant he isn't going to let anything on the property. You'll be safe. Stefan and George will stay too, and Alaric should be back with Tyler in a few days."

Her hands lifted to my face, the effect calming, "We'll be fine, baby. Like I said, just hurry back."

I nodded, and kissed her shortly, just as the back door opened and the children joined us.

Elena wasn't in her room.

When I finally made it back to campus and snuck up to her dorm, Lexi was the one to answer.

She told me that Elena had decided to go to class, now that she was feeling better.

I was relieved that the sickness had passed, but annoyed that this meant I'd have to track her down if I wanted to see her again.

And I needed to see her.

I'd spent too long away from her already.

What if-

I paused on my way across the campus grounds to shake my head.

What was I imaging could have happened in the few hours since I'd left her side?

Elena was a human among other humans, going to class like she would normally do if I'd never interfered with her schedule.

So why was my chest pounding with the need to touch her?

To see with my own eyes that she was well, healthy and safe?

Enzo's predicting words floated back through my head, taunting me as I sniffed the air, trying to catch Elena's scent.

Love. Ha. Love had nothing to do with it.

The way my body reacted to hers was sheer animalistic; instincts of my primal self.

The wolf in me wanting her didn't constitute to love, and feeling guilty over her pain didn't either.

Whatever was going on between us, it was chemical.

Nature, not emotional.

I repeated this to myself until a bell sounded, and a crowd of students flooded from the buildings surrounding me.

I caught Elena's scent in the mix of test stress, hunger for lunch, anticipation for the weekend, and drive for success.

It calmed me that she smelled normal, fresh.

She was safe and healed, which eased me in ways that…

I huffed.

Nature. Not emotional.

This wasn't about having warm feelings, or any of that other human crap.

I wasn't falling for this girl after one night inside of her.

I didn't-

Finally, Elena was in my line of sight.

Some yards away, with her back turned towards me and the strap of her book bag hanging loosely off her shoulder.

I smirked in amusement at the sweatpants and tight long-sleeved shirt that she adorned.

She looked as if she'd just rolled out of bed, which, more than anything, made me want to get her back into it.

The fantasy was so engrossing that I almost didn't notice that she wasn't alone.

A human male was walking next to her, standing entirely too close for my liking, and when she laughed, he reached out to touch her arm.

White hot anger washed through my veins, turning my vision a shade of red.

Mine.

I growled darkly before my feet were moving of their own violation, carrying me across the distance, to Elena.

Possessiveness clutched me as I saw her smile at something the male said, and his death played in my mind.

"Elena," I called, when I knew I was close enough for her human ears to hear, and she halted, turning towards the sound of her name.

The guy with her stopped too, following her gaze as it landed on me.

I glared at him, and he stepped back when I approached.

My guess would be that his human survival instincts were kicking in, and I smirked before Elena claimed my attention.

"Damon," she smiled broadly, her arms reaching for me as I came to a stop in front of her.

As she touched me, my temper cooled, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her body against mine and burying my face in her hair.

God, she smelled good.

That same sweet, clean smell that made me think of lemons and cinnamon rolls.

But there was also the harsher hint of my claim on her, my own scent, doused all over her body.

This pleased me.

Too soon, she pulled away, and tilted her head to look up at me, "I wasn't sure you'd be back today."

Pointedly ignoring her companion, I lifted my fingers to her face, "I would have been back sooner, but my brothers decided we needed to have a few bonding conversations first."

She chuckled a little then looked over to the other male, "I'll just catch up with you Friday, okay?"

The guy was average for a human, jockish, with short brown hair that shook a little as he nodded, "Uh yeah, Friday then."

He hesitated, as if waiting for Elena to confirm a time or give him a better goodbye, but she had already turned back to me.

Good thing too, because I had a point to prove.

Grabbing the back of her head, I leaned down, connecting our lips harshly.

Partially because it felt pretty damn good to be able to stake some kind of tangible claim on her, but mostly because I had been dying to taste her again.

Elena melted against me like butter, no more concerned with the passerbyers than I was, and it was several minutes before I found the strength to pull away from her.

By that time, her friend had disappeared.

Not that she noticed.

"Wow," her voice was breathless, "And good morning to you, too."

I smirked, then remembered what she'd said before.

"What's on Friday?"

Confused by the question, Elena lifted a brow, "What?"

"You said you were going to see that male," I reminded her, trying to bring her back to the current situation, "On Friday?"

"Oh. Yeah, in class," she explained, "We have Bio together. He's my lab partner."

Right. Like science notes was all he wanted from her.

You could have boiled an egg with the kind of heat he was throwing off for her.

I grit my teeth, fighting against my suddenly roaring instincts, knowing that it wasn't going to do me any good to freak Elena out by getting all territorial.

I refocused on her face, and her expression was one of amusement.

"What?" I demanded, and she smirked.

"Were you...were you jealous?"

She sounded surprised, yet slightly flattered, and the only answer I had for that question was way too revealing and difficult to explain.

"I wouldn't say jealous," I told her, grabbing her hips to pull her back against me, "More like I prefer to be the male that has your attention, that's all."

Her eyes raked over me wantingly, "Oh trust me, you have it."

I couldn't stop the growl from rumbling my chest, and I kissed her again.

Her hands clung to my arms, nails digging into the skin and my heart pounded, until someone passing by whistled humorously, and Elena pulled back with a laugh.

"Come on," she said, "Let's get out of here."

I couldn't argue with that.

It was nearly dark before we returned from the game of hide and seek with the children.

To no one's surprise, Skylar had bested both of the boys, her wolf senses honed to near perfection, even in human form.

She was currently gloating this victory to both Daniel and Michael as we strode out of the woods and into the backyard once more.

"That's enough," I told her, once the house was in view, and the smell of dinner filled the air, "Go inside and get cleaned up for supper. All of you. We'll be up shortly."

The young nodded, and grabbed their clothes before heading up to the house.

Elena smiled as they chased each other across the yard, bounding for the back door, and reached to grab her own clothes.

I hitched an arm around her waist before she could, and pulled her back against my chest, "Wait."

She paused, crooking her head so she could peer up at me, "What's wrong?"

I smiled at her wide eyes, before turning her to face me, "Perhaps I just wanted a minute alone with my wife."

Her lips pulled up into a smirk at that, her body relaxing, "Did you, now?"

I kissed her soundly, holding her as our foreheads came to rest against each other.

"I love you, kitten," I told her, "More than anything. You know that, right?"

She nodded, "Of course I do."

Leaning away slightly, so that she could see my face, she frowned, "You sure you're okay?"

I kissed her forehead, "I'll be fine. I just...I'll be counting down the days until things go peaceful again."

She chuckled lowly, "Baby I think we gave up peace when the twins were born. But don't worry. You'll figure out this thing with the Order of Lapis whatever, and you'll keep them safe. Just like you always have."

Her faith in me was reassuring, and she dropping her arms so that she could grab my hand, "Come on. We'll go grab some food, tuck the kids in, then spend some time together upstairs, how does that sound? You know, since you'll be leaving soon?"

I smirked at her, "It's like you're reading my mind."

She gave me a wink, then pulled me towards the house, picking up our clothes on the way.

The hustle of the crowded kitchen met us as we stepped through the doors, most of the Pack buzzing around the table, reading for the meal that Bonnie had prepped.

Bodies brushed and moved, avoiding collision as we navigated through the group.

On the other side of the kitchen, Caroline was ushering the kids into the room, one hand on her swollen stomach.

Klaus was behind her, his palm touching her shoulder, as if leading her through the chaos.

"Elena," the blonde called out, spotting my mate, "Good, you're back. I needed to ask you about the color chart for-"

And they were off on some topic that was lost to my ears among the rest of the noise.

Klaus left his mate's side to join mine, but smiled over at her with an expression of affection, "The sooner she has that young, the sooner she'll go back to normal," he noted.

I chuckled, "You mean she'll be her regular bossy, controlling self, instead of her now hormone driven bossy control freak on crack self."

"Basically," he nodded with a sigh, "Josette is coming by again next week, but it's very possible she'll go into labor before then."

"If so, Bonnie and Alaric are capable of handling the situation until Jo can arrive," I promised him.

Though, of course, our children were blessings, the idea of your mate undergoing the major event of birth was no less terrifying.

Even more so for Klaus, because Caroline was human.

I sighed, "I'm going to make a trip to Arizona, later this week. I want to speak to Richard and his informant in person; see if there's anything more to this Order thing. I'd have you stay here though, to protect the women and the young."

"Of course," Klaus nodded, probably just relieved that he wouldn't have to leave Caroline, but he laughed lowly, "Though I doubt that mate of yours needs much protecting."

I smiled, throwing a glance in Elena's direction.

She could handle herself in a fight, I'd made sure of that, but with her magic abilities, she was damn near untouchable.

Which meant that our children were as safe as they could possibly be at her side, where I intended for them to stay until this mess cleared up, and our lives could factory reset to their usual levels of chaoticness.

The sooner the better.

I made a mental note to call Richard in the morning to arrange my visit, then clapped Klaus on the shoulder, "Let's eat."

The table was as full as ever, conversation flowing over pouring drinks and stacking plates.

George laughing with Bonnie over a story Mason was telling, Caroline instructing Michael to slouch less, and Klaus took his seat next to her.

The twins were seeing who could reach their legs furthest under the table, before Elena's sharp eye was warning them to behave.

I smiled and took my seat at the head, waiting as each of the others fell silent, expectant eyes turning.

I grabbed one of the dinner rolls and bit into it, officially giving the go ahead to start the meal, and the chatter picked up again.

I sat back in my seat, taking in the scene of my Pack, my family.

They were all thriving. A happy, functioning unit, that made me feel as if I was succeeding in this role I'd so dreaded at first.

Elena's palm touched mine under the table, and I looked over to her.

Her brown eyes were probing my expression, as if trying to get an idea of where my head was at.

I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it.

She smiled, then Daniel was calling her attention and distractions flooded.

I didn't mind though, because this is what family was.

And it was perfect.

"Fuck," I growled harshly, as we stumbled backwards into Elena's dorm room, her body all over mine.

With rough force, she pushed me down into the desk chair, and climbed into my lap.

More of her body on mine, as she took control, her kisses enslaving me to her will, and it was the sweetest loss of freedom.

"What's the matter?" she asked, grazing her teeth over my bottom lip, "Can't you keep up?"

With another snarl, I hitched her legs up into my arms and moved us to the bed.

She laughed as I dropped her down onto the mattress, then proceeded to cover her body with mine.

Her hands tangled in my hair the second my mouth reconnected with hers and she opened her legs so that I could easily fall between them.

We didn't waste time with foreplay, despite the fact that I could worship her tight little body for hours without complaint.

But she was just as desperate to have us joined as I was, and the removal of our clothes took only seconds.

I gave half a thought to Lexi before rolling Elena onto her back, wondering if she would be coming in to interrupt any time soon.

I glanced over towards her side of the room.

"Don't worry," Elena insisted, lifting up to kiss my shoulder, "She has two back to back classes, then lunch. She'll be gone for a few hours."

Well, wasn't that just perfect.

I smirked, "A few hours, huh? What could we possibly do in a few hou-"

Elena shut me up with her mouth, and I went along for the ride, letting her chain me with each melting kiss, each thrust of her body, each satisfied sigh that left her lips.

Nothing else mattered to me but this human and the call of her body to mine, and the smile that covered her face each time our eyes met.

Those beautiful chocolate brown eyes that absorbed every emotion that poured from my chest and shot them back to me in double strength.

Then, when we had finished, and Elena had fallen asleep with her face hidden in my chest, I discovered that I had even more desires.

I wanted to see her wake up, to know what she looked like with messy hair, tired eyes, and my shirt on her body.

I wanted to see her eat food that I'd prepared for her, I wanted to care for her and sleep over her in my wolf form so that I could annihilate anything that threatened her, then I wanted to go kill that male who dared touch her.

Of course these weren't rational thoughts, but I felt them none the less, so strongly that the instinct was hard to ignore.

But I managed to by focusing on Elena's sleeping face, her lashes curving over her cheeks and her mouth hanging open slightly, drawing in deep breaths.

I smiled, and brushed her hair back, stroking one of the red strands, feeling happy, truly happy, for the first time in...well, for as long as I could remember.

Because of this human.

I pulled her tighter against my body and had no plans to let her go any time soon.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

Will try to update WTFD soon :)