Number two was exhausted. As Rolling Stone's Angie was softly playing in the background, he could not help but sigh and look at her. Mimi was sleeping, at least. It had taken seven weeks for alcohol to leave her system. Charles had suggested playing some music for her so she would not be so distressed at being knocked out.
Colin was tending to Mimi. He was changing the position of her cannula as it had gotten a little irritated, and it was soon going to be blocked. Black velvet dripped steadily in her vein, keeping her out cold but still seeing her frail form, now being fed and cared for, moved something in Number Two's heart.
Adam and Charles had returned to the pack, ensuring the wolves were content and no longer concerned with Mariella. Now, the focus shifted to helping one little lady get back on her feet, embark on her road to recovery, and discover her future aspirations. Number Two had already resolved to elicit a reaction from her. Weighing a mere 28 kilos, she had a long journey ahead to regain decent health.
Colin had come in as he had called him; they had just been so exhausted, and when it had been clear that Mimi would require an operation, Colin had stepped in. Number two had given his organs, as her entire system was more or less destroyed by alcohol. Number two also knew that he would need to be pretty damn strict with her once she woke up, tell her straight up that drinking was not for her, not at all.
After a week, she had gained a little more weight, and Colin had stayed helping. Number two had educated him about Mimi's additional problems and her physiology, and whatnot. It was good to have a backup for Mimi. One could never know when the next world-saving or whatever might come their way.
Suddenly, Charles spoke to him in his mind, "Number one is inquiring where you and Mimi are. Mariella is trying to twist here jealous drama, and her vision is that you two are on a secret love holiday somewhere. I have said nothing yet, but no promises. "
Number Two replied sharply, "It is showtime, fine. I will wake her up, inform her of the situation, and then we will meet the pack. Colin also wishes to be present, and I have agreed. It is high time this pack heard the truth, and those two idiots must face this new future. No more backstabbing between the sheets. The facts are now well-known. Let them have each other."
The first sensation that I got was that someone was trying to wake me up. I was feeling exhausted, drugged, and slowly, things flooded my mind. My rage was one thing that woke me up now. I had not-so-clear memories of being held, feeling awful, puking my guts out, and I had no idea how long it had been. My darkness is so damn superficial, and it has gotten hell of a lot stronger, almost scarily so, but for the future, it was needed.
I got my eyes open, noticing that I was gazing into the ice-blue eyes of number two as his sharper passionfruit told it to me, long before my eyes took in his face and his mark in his hair. I grunted. He was stroking me, looking at me with a tenderness that was almost alien to see on Salvatore's face.
He said to me, "Morning, babe, what do you remember? Not much, I reckon. You do remember that conversation between Number One and Mariella because you, my love, just blew your rage out. One thing, sweetie, do not drink. It is not for you. It has now been nine weeks since we got you, and you, my love, are still not fine. But let me tell you a few things that I have done and what is going to happen." His voice was gentle, and it was true; his love for me was true. I could easily sense it; his pheromones told me the truth.
My mind was not awake, but he explained to me what was going to happen. I was very surprised by the lengths this one had gone to defend and protect me. His voice was calm, but I could sense his rage, too. He was furious with those two, and again, this was something that I was not even prepared for.
He coaxed the reaction out of me. Telling me a few things here and there, and as this was more of my Damon than number one had been the whole time, this one knew what buttons to press in order to rile me up, and properly so.
He helped me in the shower, not came in as it would have led to a few things, and then we would not be going to see pack but fuck furiously. Maybe later for that action. He had chosen my clothes, and as I had not so much time to be in the shower as I was skeleton, more or less, I could not cool down. I had to dry myself properly. He helped me dress up, not too covering. He wanted them to see, so my thinness was really well seen. He put my hair up.
I was a good girl, but my rage was quite damn out. I barely controlled it, and my darkness had been awakened, but I kept it under control. I would need it, and it was not yet time to unleash it. I would need it later on. It gave me so many ideas. Well, combine my rage with my darkness, and you get one damn dangerous creature.
My vampire side was quite restless too, and it was seeing number two for a pretty good meal. A few ideas of predation flashed through my mind. Oh, it would be perfect. Lure this one and attack.
But he looked at me, whispered in my ear, "Baby, later, but be warned, I am not prey, I am a predator, and you never know what happens if you come after me. But then again, you could do good filling."
I calmed my vampire side, and my vortex had gotten pretty nice ideas about his voice. I was almost desperate with this damn vortex, as nothing was enough. There was always a force ready to be unleashed.
After I was presentable, Colin, who was extremely unhappy about me being awake and with this pack and how they treated me, wanted to go along. Number two seemed to get along with him extremely well. I was 33 kilos, so not in my shape, but I would get there. I had motivation and my plan for the future. Little protection that number two had done for me, well, it would be once again another lesson of those two.
We walked through that portal room, and the pack was already upstairs, in one bigger room, waiting for us. Charles came to meet me, and he hugged. He was still furious with these two. I walked into the room.
Mariella was sitting, her expression innocent, next to Damon, and he looked bored, like he would not understand what this was about. Number two walked next to me. Keeping his arm around me.
Other salvatores were next to Mariella. Wolves were sitting a little further, and a little angry scowl was on Mimosa's face. I have no idea how a wolf can be so expressive with her face, but she was, told me she knew.
Here's a rewritten version of the text with improved transitions:
Standing in the middle of the room, I met Mariella's eyes before taking two envelopes from Number Two. I then approached Mariella and Damon, handing him the glasses as well.
"Well," I began, "they say eavesdropping yields no praise, and that certainly holds true in this pack. I heard and recorded your little conversation about my worth, about me being a creature unfit for affection. It's quite astonishing, Damon, that you, a vampire over a thousand years old, are afraid of little ol' me, needing flanks. Here are your prenups; they're new. That recording provided the evidence needed for the court to finalize this. And this wasn't my doing; it was Number Two. He was even less pleased with you both. As for me, I'm in no condition for breeding, as I too have feelings, and I've been a fool once again, hoping for something only to end up with nothing. Mariella, your sole reason for marrying me was access to my money and assets – that changes now. These prenups are special. In the event of a divorce, it will be my choice whether to keep them or not. They are not binding in the traditional sense; my will shall prevail. And unlike you, my guardian, who isn't privy to making these decisions, they are made solely by me."
Mariella said, "But... but how could you.. I thought you loved me."
She looked at number two. Who smirked at her in a very dangerous way. Damon, as usual, kept his expression under control, not letting anything show.
Number two said, "Mimi listened to that conversation for over four hours. Elena heard it too. Those glasses record sound and video. I have listened to you two plotting over Mimi for a long time, and I've had enough. She is my baby, much more than you are, my darling. You see, Mariella. I have separated a number one's memories, put them in different places, and used them as a reference guide, not letting his emotions for you cloud my mind. So far, I am not impressed with you. If you want me, get to know me. Don't assume that just because I look like him, I am him. I am not. My love for Mimi runs much deeper, and there is very little that I would not do for my baby. No matter what spell you hit me with, I will get rid of it and then, you, number one's little pussy, will see what we actually do to females who misbehave."
Number one looked at me. I kept my expression neutral. Letting my rage feel, not my darkness.
He confessed, "I messed up, and I'm no longer your Damon. It's incredibly difficult for me to deal with you because you are so strong. My love for Mariella completely consumes me. I truly hope we can move past this. You remain the alpha female of this pack, my alpha, and procreation is essential for our pack's future. As for my finances, I am quite wealthy, so I wasn't after your money or your houses."
I raised my hand and stopped him. I said, "I am a pretender. This means I can sense lies. So please, do not lie to my face. You wanted my money and my houses. You are not my Damon, and I have no idea if you have any good feelings for me. At least number two has, and my guess is that the other Salvatores have, too. You see me as a creature. Fine, maybe I am one."
My voice was calm, but I was getting more and more pissed off, and I was getting nasty. "What comes to you not wanting to fuck me has nothing to do with me being too dangerous. You don't see me as a woman, as someone you could even fuck. You see me as ugly, plain, not sexy. As you have always seen me. Do I need to list a few instances? And then you can't let me be with Charles or anyone because you don't want me to be happy. You wanted me to quit fleas, not because you were worried about me, but because you could not take my position, my organization, my flea persona."
I was really getting creative with my outburst, and it was time to hit Mariella.
I sneered, "I must admit, I'm damn glad I'm not as fat as Mariella, because I have a ridiculous amount of designer clothes that I can wear, and there's no hope Mariella could ever squeeze into them. All it would take is a few phone calls, and a few of my mystical friends would ensure those clothes couldn't be altered by spell."
So many expressions flashed across his face. I stayed strong. Not letting it break my heart. It was time to give this final blow.
I walked up to him, taking his hand and looking into his eyes. "Truth will set us free," I began, "and never doubt my love for you. Though you are not perfect – far from it – there are versions of you who still see me as Mimi, as your beloved wife, not some monster of the apocalypse."
I then let my unconditional love for him flood straight from my soul into him, letting him feel it.
As I was not yet in my full force, my sugars were cranky, and I staggered a bit. I was tired, fucked up, and dizzy, too. Number two was next to me.
His firm hands gripped me, and he declared, "Young lady, we shall go to medbay to get you well, and then we'll see what comes next. As for those clothes, baby, I will be more than happy to choose them for you."
Before I could react, he scooped me into his arms. As he carried me, I felt a prick in my side, damn flank, and my mind became quite fuzzy. By the time we reached medbay and he laid me onto the bed, administering another injection, darkness had completely taken me over.
Damon sat on the sofa, still feeling the pangs of love. It had been as strong as ever, but he hadn't been wise in succumbing to Mariella's manipulation, and this was the consequence. He felt he had lost it all, not because he failed to control Mariella again, but because the love he once felt was gone. Now, he felt hollow; there was no love inside him for Mimi. She loved him dearly, but he couldn't find any trace of affection for her. He found her ugly, plain, and tiny, and being with Mariella only made Mimi seem more so, less of a woman. Damon believed he deserved a perfect woman, and that was Mariella.
She had been riling him up, whispering this and that for quite a long time now. It seemed that alpha power was messing with her mind, and her felines did not help things at all. This would require a little sharper approach.
He had no idea that Mimi had released one very specific pheromone, as she had been so fucked up; she did not know about herself, and a chain reaction was happening inside Damon and inside three females too.
Damon sighed softly and said, "Well, we'd better go to medbay to hear the entire story. What the hell happened to her, and how can we help? And more thing, Darlin'. Keep this kind of manipulative behavior on, and you can be sure that I shall have a little fun with you, too, and this time there is no fucking involved. "
Mariella swallowed, realizing Damon had meant it. She had been a real bitch, and now she was trying to appear deeply ashamed. After all, she had more or less turned Damon against Mimi, and this was the inevitable result. However, Mariella wasn't actually sorry. She wanted Damon – all of them, as she saw them, were merely different versions of the original Damon. Some, like Damon number two, had been corrupted by Mimi, but Mariella intended to win him over too. She would make him forget love and embrace lust, for she was the queen of lust, and in that, she was the strongest, the best.
They walked up to medbay. Number two was drawing medicines ready. He had reserved a few bags while Colin was covering an already unconscious Mimi into bed.
Damon looked at the room for a while and asked, "What happened to her? Why is she barely 30 kilos, fucked up."
Number two grunted, "Look up from the computer. I updated her files now."
Damon walked up to the computer and started to read. He sighed softly to himself, reading everything that they had tried to help her with, and it was a veritable miracle that she had been able to walk. Mariella sat next to him. Unsure what will happen next. She pursed her lips, as this was just Mimi acting up, making her perfect life less perfect, as now Damon focused on Mimi.
Colin said, "She fights drugs as much as possible, so it is not easy to keep her asleep. As you can see, the black velvet concentration in her blood had to be really strong for her to sleep. We are trying to come up with a better solution."
Number one was quiet, thinking, and then he said, " I might have an idea. It will give her nutrition and keep her asleep. I still have a sedative bump from our wedding, and I can make more."
Number two grunted. He had just put one bag of potent cocktail to drip; he stroked Mimi, looking at her tenderly, and did not even look at Mariella. Mariella was unsure if she should say anything. She had a strange need inside her, and it was something she had never felt or read about .