You Are My Life

Wolf Bait

~ Mallorie ~

When Mallorie came up from the gloomy depths of the water around her, she saw Damon leaning casually against one of the trees with a smirk on his face. Ric slowly lowered the crossbow he had trained on Damon's back. Mallorie set her jaw. 

"Damon? How are you even here?" Mallorie crossed her arms.

"Thanks for the tip, brother." Damon looked back at Ric.

Mallorie glared at Ric. "You sold me out?"

"You think I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?" Ric raised his brows. 

Mallorie shifted her gaze back to Damon. He nodded his head at Ric, who turned and walked away. How could he do this? This was supposed to be Ric, Elena, and her. Damon made things more difficult. Why was he so stubborn when it came to her?

"Get out of the water, Mallorie." Damon furrowed his brows at her.

"No." Mallorie took a step back. "If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me go home."

"Yes, because I'm not an idiot like you." Damon narrowed his eyes.

"Right now, you're both acting like idiots," Ric said.

Mallorie shook her head. "You gave up on him Damon."

"I didn't give up on him, Mallorie. I faced reality." Damon walked toward the edge of the river. "Now, get out of the water."

Mallorie started walking backward. "No."

"What's your big plan, Mallorie? Huh?" Damon jumped onto the beach and stomped into the water after her. "You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?"

Damon's chest heaved as he stopped in front of her.

"My plan is to find him and help him. Elena won't let me hear the end of it if I don't." Mallorie stepped right up to him. "Damon, this is the closest that we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse. That makes you safe. This-this is not safe." Damon's jaw clenched.

"I'm not leaving before we find him." Mallorie shot daggers up at Damon.

"It's a full moon tonight, Mallorie." Damon's eyes widened. Mallorie thinks she even saw fear flash through them.

"Then we'll find him before then." Mallorie was mere inches from Damon. She watched his eyes flick to her lips. "Damon, please."

Damon's eyes softened for a brief moment. His hand even rose as if he was going to caress her cheek. Then Damon's eyes snapped to the end of the river. The look fled his eyes and the wall fell back into place.

"Okay. Okay!" Damon raised his arms. "But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait."

"I promise," Mallorie said.

"Unless you wanna relive that whole deathbed kissy thing." The intense look never left Damon's eyes.

"I said I promise." Mallorie cocked a bro.

"Fine." Damon turned and walked away. Mallorie wanted to hull a big rock off the bottom of the river and toss it at Damon's back. Instead, she resigned to follow him out of the water.

Though the hike had been quiet when it was just Mallorie and Ric, Damon ruined the whole peaceful scene. Nothing could shut him up. It's like he lived his life to be a pain in Mallorie's ass.

"How you doing?" He asked.

"Fine." Mallorie adjusted the straps on her shoulders.

"You know, I could help you." Mallorie could hear the smirk on Damon's voice.