HUNTED-Chapter 362: Sunday Date (2)

Damon looked at the children, unsure of how to respond. The children’s parents were nearby, eyes wide and ordering them to return to them and leave Damon and Aila alone. It was obvious they knew who the Alpha and Luna were and were worried for their children’s safety.

Even if those residing in Silver Thorne were aware of the werewolves before everything that happened, they remained wary. It was then Damon also noted the sounds of cameras clicking and a few flashes. He frowned, irritation flaring in his chest and making his grip on Aila’s hand tighter as his other hand squeezed into a tight fist.

"They’re fascinated. Calm down-"

"They knew what we were before Cassius revealed the supernatural creatures to the world. They shouldn’t be taking photos," Damon growled through the mind-link between him and Aila, but he also sent the message to Finn and Darren. They couldn’t stop everyone from taking photos, but their presence might stop those passing by and staring.

"Don’t be too intimidating," Aila added in the mind-link as she smiled gently at the children. "If these photos or videos leak, we can’t show any aggression. Humans are already fearful of us. We don’t need to add more to that growing fear."

She lowered into a lunge so they were at the same eye level. "Yes, I am Aila Cross. We are werewolves." She didn’t correct them by saying she was a hybrid.

But nobody really needed to know what his mate was.

"Woah!" The children, who seemed to be around the ages of eight to twelve, looked at her in awe. They glanced at Damon and seemed to hesitate, his figure imposing and intimidating, making them look back at Aila.

"Stop scaring them!" Aila hissed through the mind-link.

"Hey, my face isn’t scary," Damon joked back but sighed and lowered himself as well. He didn’t bother putting on a smile, though. He preferred the humans to keep a good distance, especially after everything they’d been through.

Damon had nothing against them, but he was an Alpha. He needed to protect his pack against potential threats. That included nosy children. Even if they were cute and making him and his wolf want pups sooner than Aila wanted.

But Damon respected his mate’s wishes. Once Aila had her first pup, her Luna and motherly she-wolf tendencies will kick in, including the part where she would most likely want more than six children. If she didn’t still, that was fine. But with a bloodline that only had Aila and Davian as the last of the Cross’s, she or Malia would want to have more.

It was a way to protect the pack. Only the strongest were Alphas and Lunas.

"We saw you changing into those big wolves!" One of the children exclaimed excitedly.

"Mary!" Her mother, Damon assumed, called to her, scolding her.

The children’s parents came closer, their courage spurring at seeing their children talking to the two scary werewolves.

"Yeah! Can you show us!?" Another child asked. All of their eyes were beaming up at them innocently.

"That’s enough!" Another woman came forwards and grabbed the boy’s hand, presumably his mother’s. He was the boy who asked them to shift. "You are being rude." She looked up at the Alpha-Luna pair and smiled apologetically. "I am so sorry for their prying."

Aila slowly stood, smiling back at her. Damon remained stoic, uncaring if he did intimidate them. He was the Alpha of the Silver Crescent pack; he scared most werewolves, let alone humans. "There is nothing wrong with inquisitive minds. They are young and curious in a world that is changing around them rapidly."

The parents who had gathered to collect their kids seemed to relax at Aila’s response while Damon stared at her, his wolf almost purring along with his thoughts. She really was impressive. Those around them had calmed down.

Their racing hearts slowed, breathing returned to normal, and their postures relaxed. Aila’s smile and words brought them a little bit more peace. The parents took their children, and all of them waved Damon and Aila off as they continued to walk. Now they could hear others interacting and conversing about the two werewolves walking through the shopping centre.

"So that’s Aila Cross?"

"Didn’t you see the video footage? That’s definitely her."

".. looking better now."

"We knew they were here, but I can’t believe Aila is a part of the Silver Crescent pack!"

That’s right, the humans didn’t know much, but they knew the pack’s name.

"And the guy beside her.. I swear he’s that big black wolf."

On and on, they went gossiping about them now. They were not aware that werewolves had heightened senses and could hear them talking about them. But most of the comments were in their favour.

Many dismissed what had been said on the news about their kind being dangerous. The citizens knew enough that werewolves protected mankind and didn’t intentionally go out to kill humans. It was good to hear.

They needed that to spread now. Damon shook his head, hand holding Aila’s again as he started to quicken their pace a little. This was a date. They were not going to stress over this. The following evening was the meeting, so for now, they should enjoy their time together.

He huffed after hearing another flash click from someone’s phone, taking a photo of them. Aila squeezed his hand gently.

"This is a good thing. Don’t get so bothered by them. It is only natural. Besides, I want to enjoy myself." Aila stopped and faced him with a little pout. "So don’t be so grumpy."

Damon’s tense muscles relaxed a little at that, and he smiled when Aila went on her tiptoes and left a chaste kiss on his lips. More photos were taken, but he was absorbed in the taste of her lips, deepening it as his hands clutched at her hips and pulled her closer to his body.

"Oh my gosh! I need a werewolf boyfriend!"

"Look at that! They’re so passionate!"

"I want something like that!"

"Jimmy, stop staring!" A smack followed from an old couple, the wife telling her husband off.

Someone else cleared their throat. "I remember those days.. Phew.. I think I need to go lie down and cool off somewhere."

"Right with you there, Betty.." Older ladies in their 70s or 80s commented, making Aila and Damon pull away laughing.

Aila giggled some more, her hand in his as she swung their arms, and she began to skip, smiling and twirling around. His mate was having fun, but he could also sense through the bond she was putting on a little show for those still taking photos and recording them. Damon wanted to roll his eyes. Somehow they were these celebrities in their own town.

He did no such thing. Damon’s lips twitched up slightly. He couldn’t help the small smile on his lips from watching Aila. This was how she was meant to be instead of dealing with all that had happened. She’d been happy since returning to the pack, returning to his arms, but he liked seeing her acting so freely.

"Aww.. seriously.. Look how he’s watching Aila!"

Okay, they needed to get inside. Though Damon sensed Aila’s mood spike some more, she loved the girls and noticed how he was only looking at her. It was a mate thing.

"Come on, let’s see what is playing." Damon led her inside the large cinema building. It was quite new in the town, the floors were still sparkly clean, and the furniture didn’t look overly used.

The smell of popcorn, hotdogs and overly sweet sugary drinks wafted over to them. They walked over to the screens showing the screen times of the latest movies.

"What do you fancy watching?" He asked, wondering what she would pick.

There were some superhero movies out that he knew she would also watch. Aila was pretty easy when it came to films. But there were also romcoms and some family comedies out.

"Hmm.. Our life is already action-packed, and I don’t need to watch any romance.. Our life is already sugary sweet." Aila winked at him. "I don’t want to see actors fake it. So.. We’re the Hillers 2, it is.

I loved the first one."

Damon smirked and kissed the top of her head. "Alright. That starts in ten minutes. Did you want popcorn?"

"Of course! Sweet and Salty popcorn! And some Fanta. Ohhh, maybe some chocolate.. Actually no.. Hot dogs..

No, no.. We’re going to dinner after.. Oh, wait.. Duh, I have a huge appetite, and so do you." Aila beamed at him. She was adorable.

Damon chuckled. "Okay.. Why don’t you get the tickets, pick our seats, and I’ll get the food?"

"Oh, I see how it is.. We haven’t had the official talk about who pays for what," Aila joked with a smirk. She didn’t wait for his response and started towards the line to pay for the tickets, then she changed direction and went towards the self-serve touch screens to choose their tickets.

Damon shook his head, a grin on his lips, making others stare and gasp. He ignored them and headed towards the popcorn counter. Nobody was queuing for it yet and were waiting for the hot dogs.

"How can I help you, sir?" The teenage boy with pimples and a nervous smile asked. He recognised Damon, but his voice was still clear.

He hid his smirk. What a brave kid.

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"Large sweet and salty popcorn.. please," he added to seem polite, so the kid could relax a little.

While Damon waited and watched the teenager fill up the large yellow and pink popcorn box, his ears tuned in to the sounds of some radio crackling.

".. eye on the target."

"Secure.."

"One down.."

His body tensed. That didn’t sound good.

Screams erupted from outside, and Darren sent a warning bark from where he must have shifted outside. Then a mind-link came through from the ex-Delta.

"Hunters!" A gunshot went off, and the mind-link zapped out.