23. Viva la Vida.

When Damon's body appeared next to Mariella, she was so incredibly relieved. She put Damon in her body and didn't even think about how, who, or why. She was so fucking cranky with Mimi. How she went to the naughty Sark so incredibly trusting, and how she had the number one under her spell so that he would sacrifice himself for her, but not anymore.

She had now shown Damon what Mimi was, and Mimi was not trusted. But Mimi was needed for them to reproduce, and so she should be turned into a puppy mill. Mimi would be kept in line, and Damon would see to that.

She'd make sure of it. Mariella had planned an implant, a garlic extract implant that Damon would have installed in Mimi's liver as a punishment device. Then the little bitch would be controlled and multiply.

Damon woke up in his own body and remembered what the fuck had happened. Mariella was next to him and kept telling him how Mimi was this and Mimi that, how Mimi should be punished, but Damon thought for a moment and then looked back into the past, how he had his own body because he had felt his body being destroyed.

He saw how Mimi was growing his body, and Mariella kept talking about how Mimi should be punished and that Mimi should be disciplined. He knew that there would be many ways for him to get a new body, but this had never happened and he had told no one about this. 

He slapped her across the face, rage flaming in his eyes. He had never been this mad at Mariella and now he let her feel it. His strike had not been gentle.

Damon got fed up and said, " Have you idiot looked at the past and how I got this fucking body? It certainly wasn't your doing, so if you could stop bashing whoever made this possible. I'd appreciate it very much before I break your neck!"

His voice was dangerous, he was about to lose it and mariella paled. Damon had ever been this furious to her.

Mariella was silent and shocked, then she looked into the past, and Mimi disappeared. Mariella kept rewinding and focusing closer and closer, and then she saw Mimi go into hibernation and deep. She had given everything for Damon, and she, the rescuer, had been like a hormonal teenage child and hadn't even looked where this body came from.

Damon was furious and looked at Mariella. He said, " So I thought you could be rational, look to the past, and not be like some hormonal teenage monster, but apparently, I was wrong and bad wrong. Fine, I'll take your addiction away. You will no longer get any pleasure from my pheromones; you don't need them, and you won't get them unless I decide to give them to you. I am so fucking disappointed in you, Mariella. I thought you could be objective and look out for the best interests of the whole pack. You don't have a brain in your skull as your pussy is doing the thinking! "

His voice was icy and angry and Mariella looked at him, scared. He stood up, crowding Mariella and this dangerous creature, spoke to her, with a voice that made her blood run cold.

"Now do you have any idea how freaking easily you or the entire pack would have gotten a new body for me, without Mimi needing to wither herself? The same principle goes for me too. I can grow from one cell. And by god, I have left my cells and my genetic material all over the place, so all you would have done, was make a simple calling spell for one of my cells. You know we do shed skin cells and whatnot all the time, and give that cell energy, use the entire pack to feed it off so it would have to start to grow, just like Mimi did and she is not a freaking energy creature." 

Mariella swallowed and said, "I was in shock. I was not ready for that and I reacted all wrong. It was just too much for me and I did not know, not a clue, that could be done. Or at least it did not come to my mind. It is clear as day now, of course, but at that time. I do not know. I just froze up. My pussy did the thinking, not my brain." Her voice trembled with fear.

Damon said angrily to her, " I was wrong. Now I'm going to get Mimi; I'm going to try, with everything I've got, to turn that very deep hibernation around, to wake her up. But think, dear wife, what a lot of energy it takes for you to grow a new body from a cell, a whole body, and you are not an energy being but a sick, platinum-poisoned, skeleton-thin, uneaten woman who certainly couldn't afford that trick but she did it anyway. It's going to take a lot to turn Mimi's hibernation around, and I owe her that much."

Then Damon focused and released one pheromone; it put Mariella's addictions aside, and she didn't even notice. Mariella thought for a moment before speaking.

Mariella said, "I'm not fucking perfect either, you see, I'm not. You just want me always to control myself and be perfect, but I'm not. I have my feelings, too, and if I see you turn to ashes when you go to protect Mimi, then I will fucking react just as I see fit."

Damon grunted and snarled, " Fine. I understand you are reacting, but I'm going to go get Mimi and start fixing her up. She gave me absolutely everything, and it wasn't the first time. You, my wife, you do not know what that woman has given to me and to this pack over the years because I have been too kind to you, too lenient and it is time for me to stop pampering you quite so much."

Mariella came up to Damon and said, "I'm sorry, I really am, but try... well, I don't even have the right to ask you to understand. I blew it badly, and I had no idea what could be done except me lying on the bed, talking to you, hoping that you are really there, not just a figment of my imagination. I am not so strong as I thought I was."

Damon sighed. He smelled genuine fear emanating from Mariella and said, "Honey, let me be mad at you, but then again, I'm not anymore. I understand and this is on me as well as I had said nothing about this, even if this could have happened anytime. We need to make sure that next time we have a protocol to follow. Not panic, but think. But I'm going to get Mimi and see what on earth we can do for her. "

Mariella kissed Damon and said, " Don't you ever do that again, you understand? Those three weeks were the worst time of my life. Even though you were in my mind. At one point, I even thought it was just my imagination that you were there. I never want to feel so lonely, and it's wrong of those nine others when I didn't seek comfort from them. I just grieved by myself and didn't even pay any attention to anyone. My grief paralyzed me and I was not a good wife to any one of them, not at all."

Damon kissed Mariella and took her to the bedroom for 24 hours or a week. He told the others where Mimi was and how she was. But now he was showing Mariella that he was perfectly fine and everything was going to be perfect. There was nothing to worry about. He had still a soft spot for her and he gave her pheromone addiction back. He just could not be mad at her, even though he should have.

Charles was walking down the corridor. He marveled at this grand house in Monaco; he remembered so many memories of Mimi over the years and the aching need to be her, to have sex with her, to keep her in his arms safe, was so bad at times he felt like his heart was about to burst. He had said he was going to get Mimi.

The Salvatores had gone after the wolves and for each other too, and Charles was pleased that he, Adam, and the boys had grown stronger over the years, as if by themselves. Damon and Mariella knew nothing about it, but it didn't matter. Wulfe had come too, as they had told him what happened and in what shape Mimi was. Wulfe had been very upset. For her unicorn to sacrifice herself again.

He had told Charles about that poison bullet, Mimi being coma for five weeks and not sure would she ever woke up. Charles was shocked. Wulfe told him how hard it had been for them all. Charles understood. Bond between Mimi and Wulfe was no threat to him but good thing for Mimi, she needed help, friends and people caring for her. Charles knew what love was. What it felt, and he knew Damon had no love for Mimi, only for Mariella. But he had. 

He would help, and then he would finally and finally be with Mimi. He would have this nagging longing in his soul satisfied. He wanted to be there when she opened her eyes, when she woke up, and he would be there. How he would help and support. How his love would heal her as she had healed him in time. He went into the bedroom and momentarily looked at the withered figure in the bed. There was a stain on the sheet where all the liquid had soaked in when the hibernation had begun.

The mummy was brown and curled up on its side, and Charles had to reassure himself that Mimi would wake up from that—that Mimi was still in there somewhere. It was light as a feather and even though he had heard stories of this stage in Mimi, this felt so dried up, he really hoped that she would wake up soon enough. It did not weight many kilos. 

He went and picked up the mummy wrapped in a sheet and teleported back to the medbay with Adam and the boys. Wulfe, Samuel, and Colin had also come there; together, they would turn the hibernation away. It would take time and this has been very deep hibernation, so this would not be easy for even these early stages too. 

Wulfe stroked her, muttering something to himself about having it right for her to end up back in the pack as she was in this state. He was distressed to see her in this stage and it was clear to everyone just how deep the bond they had. And not one of these was jealous. 

First, Mimi's brain would have to be awakened, and that in itself would take time. Adam remembered. But they took the supplies and slowly wet the brain, waking it up and growing. They had a few types of liquid foods that they used and tiny energy shots too. Very minuscule. It was a very slow process, and they did not tell anything to Salvatore. Wulfe had come in because Samuel and Colin had worked out that if you could wake Mimi up enough, you could get her to turn into a tick and then grow faster.

Wulfe had only magic so he could turn her into a tick. He was pensive, though. Mimi was very dear to him and she would be small and frail as a tick and he had used this magic more or less as punishment, not saving anyone. Charles was already all set to do the tick. Mimi would grow slower because she was not an energy being and was in terrible shape, to begin with, but they would have the time and the will. She would be his to care for. They could smell the infection on her still. She had not gotten time to heal properly. 

They would say nothing to the salvatores because they had retired to fuck, and there was a raucous going on. Wulfe agreed full heartily. He trusted more with Adam and Charles than Damon. But they would take care of Mimi and make her completely well. Then it would be good to be together after that, enjoying life after so long. Mimi would be confused as a tick, tired maybe, and very frail. But Wulfe warned them several times how poisonous Mimi could be and this would be her vampire side, the real core vampire not a wildcat, but a vampire's animalistic form so it might be a handful to deal with. 

It took them almost three months, and Mimi was a tick. It had been so hard for them to get her brain even to try to start sucking any moisture. It had been so damn deep hibernation. It had taken a lot of effort for them all. She was a little tick, and Charles would put the tick on his neck, and she would cling to it and drink eagerly. She was kind of cute, but then again; she had her own ways to be very naughty. Charles laughed when the tick worked hard on his hair, and he coldly put it up. It wasn't nest time, but Mimi the tick wasn't nice.

She was about the size of a newborn; she was brown, and she had thin legs and arms that she could move and clinging, her eyes were blood red, and she had pricked ears. She reminded a sort of bat, without wings. She was very vocal and her head was not as big as a baby's; she was a more little animal than anything human. She was fast too, and restless as hell. Her body was short and stubby, and she had little fur on her, she was not all leathery. 

This specimen was lively and would crawl around at any moment. She was a menace, she really was. If Charles went to bed and let the tick lie on his neck, it could be velvety, and when Charles woke up, he could always do the tick-finding spell. The tick was always under the bed or a cupboard, and the tick was very cranky. She was fast and not a good girl at all. She was very poisonous, and she had no qualms about using her poisons. 

Charles was patient and thought to himself that if the lady used up her strength so well, she would never grow. Samuel wanted to explore the tick every day and test her now and then, but she was a quick girl to velvet every one of them down when she'd had enough. She had other poisons and substances as well.

It was not rare to have Samuel or Colin in IV. After the tick had struck and velveted them both, she was highly poisonous. Wulfe had left. He had to be somewhere after a few days, when he had watched them trying to tame that creature. He would not end up with that one's victim. Despite him loving her, he knew what little menace she was. He had his jobs elsewhere. 

Little tick kept them on their toes and she was a creature with inventive ways to teach people around her. She had no qualms poisoning whoever got in her way.She was having too much fun and she was sly.

In the sex smelling bedroom, lights were low and mariella knew just how badly she had done it again. "Damon, I did it again. You should have gotten Mimi fixed up. I could sense it right now, but you came to me. You don't have to. I wonder what Mimi's situation is. Is there anything we can do to help her?" Mariella said.

She looked at Damon. She had her regrets, too. She wanted Damon to be happy and get things on with Mimi. So far, the little connection that he had might have gotten into her had all gone because of all the drama, and now this. 

Damon sighed. They had fucked for over three months now. 15 weeks. He had not permitted himself to think about Mimi and that connection that had almost formed until that those damn enzymes and infection and everything. He could sense that Mimi did not want him at all. No connection and he felt no genuine love for her. It would take time for him to let himself feel to connect, but nothing. He had been most of the time just an overbearing, cranky doctor. Not loving ex husband who had gotten love of his life back.

He was now with Mariella and said, " Darling, it's my choice; don't worry about it. Mimi taught me a long time ago that my choices are my burden. I don't feel any actual love for her. I have no connection with her. Mimi is a tick. They turned Mimi into a tick, but she is very naughty, and at this rate, she will stay a tick for six months. At least. She is weak, tiny, but impossible. All I have been for her is an impatient, bossy, cranky doctor, not a man who had gotten the love of his life back. Charles is that, not me. "

Mariella laughed and said, " Somehow so, Mimi, really so. But shall we go and see if we can do anything for the naughty tick? Maybe we can help her. She is sick. Still, my radar tells me that much, even though it is very confused about her species. That infection is still on, but we have a huge amount of enzymes. You have time to connect with her. This is just a start and you are who you are, not Charles. Give yourself mercy and time."

Damon sighed, and Mariella realized that he again felt he had no right to interfere in Mimi's care. After all, he wasn't even a husband anymore. He was just a pack leader and a doctor. Damon had felt Mimi's rejection and whatever bond that Charles had gotten with her in a few weeks. 

Mariella said, " Come on, Damon. Now, let's go take a shower and think of how many times Mimi raised you. She needs now a little firmer hand. Now, unlike you, there is one naughty young lady who disobeys, and they don't keep her in line; you need to set an example."

Damon looked at his wife and said, " Fine, let's have a shower, but you'll see for yourself. She doesn't want me, telepathic, you see. We have no connection anymore and she has some connection with Charles and Adam, too. There is no love between us. I wonder why I am pushing myself to her, as you are all I want."

Mariella sighed and took Damon into the shower. She made him discipline himself properly several times so that Damon no longer felt guilty and was noticeably in a more snappy mood. Some young tick lady would be properly disciplined and grow up.

She hoped for a better time ahead. Mimi would be still sick, needing very intensive care after they had gotten her out of that tick form, and Mariella did not know if she still had those anesthetics in her blood, too. But they soon see.