Giselle and Hannah, the witches, were looking very interested as the Boys tried to calm the girls down. Magnum was sitting little May in his lap, letting her feed from his arm. They were getting impatient and Damon was suddenly right behind me, looking over my shoulder as I tried to put those plates ready.
I could feel his breath on my cheek and he reached from behind me, took the meat pure, or it was a little rougher piece, and put it more onto the plate. He was closer to me than he had been in all this time, and I was a little trapped. He took the plate and gave it to Mariella, who went to feed the girls. Witches seemed to talk with Magnum and the boys. I saw May was now sitting on her chair, a little cranky as her feeding had been disrupted.
Dexter had gotten more plates ready and soon cranky fussing calmed down. Damon was still right behind me. I put food back in their containers when he whispered into my ear. "Don't bother baby, their food will go with them to Magic House and it is time to do this. I have been patient enough. "
Damon leaned against me and said, " You belong to the pack; you belong to me, and I'm not giving you a choice now."
I could feel his hand brushing my hair out of the way, and then suddenly he struck his teeth straight into my alpha chakra, marking me once again, putting me back in the pack, and activating our bond back into place. He bit my neck for what felt like an eternity, and my legs shook with the intensity of it. He licked my mark, capturing my hands and holding me against him.
He said, "Now, I will never let you go, darlin. You can be sure of that. I have no excuse. I just grew up; this is my stage, and you can be sure this lesson has been learned. You're going to be my wife. Believe it or not, you'll see."
Magnum, Dexter, and Wulfe all clapped their hands. They looked more than happy.
Wulfe said to Dexter, "It was about the time, I wondered if he is ever gonna do that. Now my unicorn is safe again."
Dexter muttered, "If they ever hurt her like that, I will gut them myself, not caring even if they are immortal. I can make it hurt. "
Magnum grunted, "Then you should get in line because I would be first in line."
Mariella watched as Damon wrapped himself around Mimi. Not letting her move at all, just keeping that frail, thin creature next to him, so he could save her, get her well. He almost squeezed her against him, trying to offer his body heat to her.
I was almost in shock again at the sensations Damon was mercilessly pushing through our bond. There was this need to have me, to be with me, to protect me. Love me, heal me. It was not yet a true soulmate bond; it was a mating bond but strong and I did not doubt that it might evolve soon enough stronger. There was no doubt about his love for me. It shone like a sun in my mind. I was not sure how to answer even or what to do.
He was probing the contents of my head, burrowing into my mind and beginning to take root there again. I felt other Salvatores in my mind, and soon, I heard voices as Mariella had set the linkage in place. He was so strong and warm against me; I had no way of getting rid of him. I tried to fight it, tried to move away, but no hope, none at all.
Damon said, " Now baby, now we're going to go over there for a while and watch our pack feed those babies and then those witches will make a few tests and decide where they are going, they will be kept together but who can handle them, what powers they have. I have been patient enough to see how many times they have compelled someone to be their blood bag. They need boundaries and they get into the right family. One who can have patience enough to bathe those."
He didn't let go of his grip on me, as if he was afraid I was going to disappear somewhere. We went to sit on the couch. He kept his arm around me. And quite tightly.
We went to the living room, and Charles came to me, and he said, " I'm a traitor. I betrayed you, and I forgot, honey, for years and years, I was away from you, and now, I don't know if you'll take me back."
He had spoken nothing like this when he had visited, and I guess Damon had ordered it. More of the pack members came to tell me how much they had missed me and how they wanted me back. Damon kept me tightly against him. Not letting me move anywhere yet.
Wulfe, Dexter, and Magnum were talking with witches and with Mariella and Mariella had now set her eye on Dexter. He had kept her distance from her during this month, but now poor Dexter was trapped. We were like this for an hour or two. Babies got fed and brought to the living room. They were all trying to walk, without support, a few steps at a time, but those first steps had been magical. Of course, Damon had been witnessing them.
I saw Wulfe being interrogated more or less. He was reluctantly going with them to the magic house and Dexter had been recruited there as well. Magnum was a free agent, so he had his place. Number two told these three that they could not get in pack's houses, freely as now my houses would be pack's houses, without telling first. Number two told them it would not be too hard for him to make Magnum, Dexter, and Murdock into hybrids. They would be just perfect. Those three weren't so sure about that.
No one had any problems with that. It seemed like my boys had been waiting for this. I was not sure of anything yet. I was confused, yet I knew how much I had changed over the years, so it might not be easy for them to take me in their sedentary pack life as I had used to doing and acting, not just being, and then I was not lust creature, not anymore, so in a way, I felt very outsider more than before.
I had still my clinic, my leadership and so much more, my status as a surgeon and then I had my little hobby in the basement. There was that demon king. He had still blood left. We had one other guest and then Magnum had told me a week ago that there were three naughty Sarks for me to play with. I was not sure if I could get away to play with them.
After a few tests, witches muttered to themselves and went away smiling to babies as those tried to walk and there were always eager helpers. Mimosa and Shadow were in their wolf forms and, well, the boys too, so babies had furry supports that helped them to walk.
Magnum, Wulfe, and Dexter had left, and each one of them had told me how good it was to see me back in the pack, but Damon kept me tightly to himself, not letting them hug me before they left. We were sitting still and babies were now playing with new toys that the pack had brought them, trying to eat them as they were teething. They had fangs, but other teeth were coming as well.
I sighed, and Damon let go of me finally. I walked into the middle of the room and said, "First of all. I have nothing against you. I don't hate you. I don't blame you. I adjusted, and I can now be honest and say that the last seven years or so have been the worst, loneliest time I have ever had. Even I had support, and without those five, I would not be here. Wulfe told you. But time has passed, and I take a while to adjust. I am not the same, not at all. Patience is required, and I now have these four in my care. I am not sure at all if will I even fit in your peaceful existence. I have grown too hardened, too violent, and I understand if you feel soon that I am not a good fit to be part of the pack. Besides, these four will take a lot of my time, you have noticed. It is difficult to find a suitable place for them."
Except they were in whose arms at any given time. Pack had picked them up, talking to them and these four were doing their best to speak too. Though Salvatores was already putting their vampire side under control.
Mariella came up to me and said, " Life is nothing without you, think Mimi. We developed a routine when things happen, and I know the whole fucking thing was as wrong as it could be for you. But we learned and learned a bitter lesson, a nasty lesson, all of us. Do you know how boring it is to go to the Azores for two months after Christmas? How boring it is to fuck. "
I said, " I can say that I have not been bored. I have not let it go. I couldn't have stood it otherwise. I was utterly broken once I woke up. I was ready to end it, I was just too cowardly, and Wulfe and others pulled me out of it. They kept me standing until my rage could hold me. Why I was broken? The reason is that connection that I felt. How can I describe the connection I didn't know existed? It was the connection I've been looking for all my life, and I foolishly gave myself to that connection. I was brave, and I gave it all away. I gave my soul away, and let it all out, and the pain was the result. "
I kept a small pause. It was good to confess these things right from the start. Let's see where we stand after my outpour.
My voice held on as I continued. " I gave myself fully to my truest soulmate, my first love, only to be alone for seven years, to suffer such heartache so bad that I felt I couldn't live. But when I had to. I can't die. What I mean is, don't you ever expect me to give in again, to show you everything, because that hurt too much? I can't feel it again, I just can't. If I ever have to, then I will be brave enough to stop it right away. I will stop existing more or less. I will kill myself as well as I can and put myself sleeping in a coffin for eternity."
Everyone was silent, and I could see the girls were tired. I said, " The little ones need to go to have a nap. Just bring them in here, and I'll put them to bed."
Damon looked at Mimi and sighed. That confession seemed to tear his soul to shreds. He knew how bad Mimi had been and why Mimi had the armor on, but he would get it off. He would teach Mimi to feel again, to love again, and he swore to himself.
He said to Mariella in his head."Darling. I can't take this guilt. I want to make this better, but she needs some intensive medical care. And what Colin has told me, more or less, is that the creature is afraid of everything medical."
Mariella came up, wrapped herself in him, and kissed him.
She said, "I know you do, I really feel it."
Damon sighed. He kissed her back, but now his thoughts were on Mimi.
He promised himself that he would never do it again, that he would never hurt Mimi that badly again. He stood up, went, and picked up little May, who was getting pretty cranky. He took his daughter after Mimi to the nursery and watched as she put the baby in the crib and turned on the mobile. It played their tune, but it didn't go quite right. She had put Vivianne in her crib.
He had missed their tune. That had gone to Mimi after the divorce and he was wondering did Mimi kept all or if had she gotten rid of their history. But somehow, it felt right. When the kids were asleep, Mimi went to the kitchen and the fridge, took one of the ready meals from there, and put it in the microwave.
Damon watched for a while and then went into the living room. Mimi was in the kitchen so she wouldn't hear. He looked at everyone and now they were ready to hear their pack leader. They had learned quite attuned to Damon's expressions and tones of his voice. He had them wrapped around his fingers.
Damon said," As you can see, the lady needs time in the medbay to sleep, and I'll take care of that in a minute; you see how badly the children are deficient and see if we need to do anything. Those children need to get to the magic house and pretty fucking quick. As you can see, there is a lot of compulsive business, and while those little ones are still growing, we are fucked, so to speak. They have been using Magnum and others as their blood bags with no care and they had gotten used to it, using their powers. We have been feeding them for a month and there is still lacking stuff in their blood as they grow so fast."
They had noticed that too and babies had tried to compel several times them to give blood or toys or do something. They were very strong and witches had noticed it. They were looking sound place for them, a powerful family. Magnum, Dexter, Murdock, and even Colin had been good victims for these to feed.
Damon whispered almost. His audience was listening raptly to him. " And I'm off to stun the lady in a minute. I have now tasted her blood a few times, so I have a little flank ready. Now is not the time for declarations of love yet. The wedding will come in due course once we get her better. Darlin, if you just get in touch with Colin and get us another custody agreement, we can get things moving. Use reason for her enemies. I would like to go through the lady's health records for this period. She is eating 45% of what she should, and she is still probably breastfeeding. I have tried to feed her when we have been here, but she should eat five times a day, not once. She is not sleeping, just working. I have seen her office, full of paperwork. "
Mariella nodded. She had smelled milk on her at least when they had come to visit the first time and there had been quite a lot of milk in the freezer and fridge too.
Damon continued. His tone was now sharper as he was getting ready to act. "She has deficiencies so bad you can smell them without drinking blood. As we can see, she'll survive but not thrive. That weight of 35-37 kilos is not enough to take care of babies, and I have to watch out for Missy, not trying to put on the next batch. We're in this house now. You can start nesting here and change everything. It's easier for Mimi to accept that now I've grown and developed to the point where I can take some pretty fucking hard feelings. "
Mariella cuddled up to Damon and said, " Oh, it's lovely that you're so in charge. I'm going to look at those little girls. They're so cute. Mimi has been lucky to raise them. You go take care of Mimi, and I'll call Colin when I find out about those kids. Mimosa and Shadow will go to the magic house and find out where to go. It may be a day or two before we get a place for them, but here's a pack to help. Giselle is fast to find, but my guess would be Princess, Dylan, Derek, or Meredith, last first, and then if needed someone else, but those need some discipline and a good home. "
Damon kissed his wife, slammed her against the wall, and took a hard half-hour. It was amazing. It was like sex was really amazing again. Then he looked at his wife, and Mariella was amused. Oh, that Mimi would be under control quickly. She hadn't met this new Damon who even kept men in line. Mimi would be no match for him.
And if Damon could get a wicked buzz out of the creature, even better. Mimi was fiercely strong, she was packed with power, and Mariella had very cleverly interrogated those five saviors in this month's time to get an idea of how strong a creature they had in their hands, and she was strong. Even more powerful than three salvatores together.
Wulfe had warned about her vampire side and it had one thing worried him. He said that he and Mimi have a connection, telepathic and he can sense if she is about to break. He will be there and put her in place. Well, another minor challenge for Lord Salvatore. How to rein Mimi's vampire side fully? He had his ways to rule his pack.
Everyone in the pack had been more or less in the cage. Damon used it quite mercilessly, and he ruled Mariella with his pheromones, too. Mimi would be a wonderful challenge for Damon, and it would be a whole new world to Mimi when someone would not tippytoe around her and fawn over her.
I was eating when Damon entered the kitchen and sat opposite me. My mind was preoccupied with my paperwork and whatnot.
He looked at me for a moment and said, " I'm going to tell the truth, and I will sugarcoat nothing or hide anything because it will not do any good. You and I will go to medbay soon, and I will give you a proper checkup. Mariella will contact Colin, and I will go through your history, yes, but your missy will be asleep and on a pretty damn good drip."
Damon looked at me sharply. His entire demeanor had changed, and he was right about oozing dominance. and it was clear that he expected me to obey without asking questions.
His voice was sharp, dark, dangerous almost. "I won't even list everything that's wrong with you, but I can promise you there will be sleep and corrections because you're so deficient that I can smell the deficiencies without even having to taste your blood. Our kids go to the magic house. They have shortcomings, too, and I'm not blaming you; I'm just telling you. You don't know these things because you've never been in this business."
He was right; I knew that much, and I knew that they had tried to fix girls little during the month that they visited. The fact was, they grew up twice as fast as human babies, so they needed so much but could not eat so much in one go. I was no magic creature, able to give them energy or magic shots.
He continued, as I was still eating. "They're fucking strong vampires, and they can go where their powers are controlled and taken care of. You don't have to worry about that. You weigh less than 40 kilos, you're chronically pretty fucking hypothermic, and I won't even think about what else I can find. But I promise you one thing. This will never happen again. I also tell you that I will never again be away from you for an entire year. Never."
I was silent momentarily and said, " Fine, or that's how it's going to be. I can stay awake through the IVs. That's fine. Babies are lacking because I am not an energy creature and I haven't dared to give many energy stones as I have no idea do they have some energy tanks or not. I don't need to sleep. I am fine without it. I am stronger nowadays. "
Damon looked at me and whispered. " You, my love, must be having some pretty fucking dreadful nightmares, but I'll get you to sleep deep enough that they won't get there. And I'll help. You'll learn that I'm a changed man. Some of the pack will tell you for the better, and others won't even dare to tell you everything I have done. I could fawn and profess my love, take it slow, seduce, but I am your protector and nurturer, and I won't let you simply exist anymore; I want you to thrive and live life to the fullest."
Damon sat and watched as I ate in peace, drinking Palma and Cola. I knew I wasn't in top shape, but I'd always be fine. I ate my portion, and this was good. This was something that Dexter had cooked up in one day. He liked to cook, too. I certainly hadn't thrived in the whole seven years, not one bit. I finally got up, collected my dishes, and took them to the dishwasher, with Damon right behind me. I could feel his body heat, and it warmed me so wonderfully.
He wrapped his arms around me, took my wrists in one hand, and I felt the needle sink into my arm. I tried wriggling free. I wasn't compatible with injections and medicine, but Damon was strong; he held me still. His powerful arms encircled me fully, pressing me tightly against him. He murmured something soothingly, but panic took over and I struggled.
I squirmed, I even panicked badly, but he just held on, not letting go anywhere, and the medicine kicked in. Damon had stopped me from getting into my rage, and without it, the drug took over. I tried to fight against it, but my legs were turning to jelly, my mind clouding up, my strength waning. I went limp, and Damon was relentless.
I didn't quite pass out. He eased his grip gently, turned me over, looked into my eyes, and said, " Yep, you're done. I'll go to the medbay now, but I think you're legless, so I'll carry you." His voice was just like this was nothing special, but I tried to fight, to find my rage all the time. I was pretty full on panic what my drugged mind could muster up.