𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙊𝙉𝙀
ミ★ ( reign of wolves, act one ) ★彡

New Orleans was nothing like the brochure. It had its highlights like it's nightlife and what-not for tourists, but, there was something much darker that lurked beyond its loud street parties. Rhea Lockwood had thought she had seen it all after Mystic Falls, but Elijah had showed her all sorts of new differences than she could have ever expected. She liked New Orleans—it reminded her of New York. She liked that it was entirely different from her small hometown in Virginia. Back home, everyone knew everyone and everything about them. In the big city, it was rare to see the same face twice from the amount of tourists that visit and party in the streets day and night. But, she shouldn't have been so naive to think it would be any different since she had left her hometown, she should've known that wherever the Mikaelsons went, danger and trouble followed after them. But, she didn't care, she loved that crazy family like no other.

     Rebekah was like the sister she never had apart from Caroline. The two of them were rocky but protective over each other like normal sisters—as normal as can be for a hybrid and an Original vampire. Rhea hoped that she would finally find the person who made her happy and that she was living her life to the fullest, rather than just living to please Klaus for eternity, and was almost glad that she had decided to stay away from New Orleans to find herself.

     Klaus was her annoying brother. Rhea and Klaus bickered like no other but still found a way to fight for the other when a threat came towards them. Neither of them would admit that they cared for them.

     Elijah was the love of Rhea's life—her soulmate. She loved him with every fibre of her being and she knew she would follow him anywhere, even the humid state of Louisiana.

     And even after all that, Rhea couldn't help but miss Kol. She was closest with him after Elijah, and the two got along better than her and Tyler used to. Kol somehow understood Rhea—being the black sheep of his own family he knew what it was like to be alienated when someone didn't conform to their family's standards. She wished he was by her side, making her laugh and comforting her whenever the rest of the Mikaelsons were driving her up the wall.

Rhea and Katherine still often kept in touch. It was a shock to hear that Elena had managed to shove the cure down her throat when the two doppelgängers fought but Rhea couldn't help but laugh when Katherine admitted being human wasn't the best thing that had ever happened to her. She was dying slowly and she mostly complained about her feet hurting from her shoes. She was still trying to make it work and with the help of her long lost daughter, Nadia, they would do anything they could to make sure she survived this. After all, Katherine Pierce was a survivor through and through. Being cured of vampirism wouldn't change that at all and Rhea told her to do anything she could to survive because she really did grow to like the older doppelgänger.

     Rhea had forgiven Katherine for making her trigger her werewolf curse; truth be told it ended up making her life better. She wouldn't of survived being just a human and most likely would've never have met Elijah had she not been thrown into the supernatural world. While she still didn't enjoy how she was turned, she couldn't be mad since Katherine would only do the most.

"So, what brings you to the Big Easy?" Camille, the bartender at Rousseau's, asked Rhea as she poured the hybrid a glass of wine. Camille then spotted the ring around her finger as she reached for the glass, "You married? Seperated? Divorced? Running from a bad marriage?" She teased.

Rhea chuckled lightly, "Engaged, actually." She answered, "But, my fiancé and his family used to live here. They decided to move back, only I decided to come along with them."

     "Aren't you a little young to be getting married?" She asked her. Rhea looked as if she only recently entered adulthood, and from what she had seen about young married couples is that they don't last long.

"Aren't you a little old to be showing cleavage for some extra tips, Camille?" Rhea responded back bluntly as she raised an eyebrow, a half smirk on her lips as she took another sip from her drink.

"Touché." Camille laughed at her, "And it's just Cami. I keep having drunk men flirt with me in French because of my name tag, I need to not wear it anymore."

"You don't like it when men speak to you in French?" She asked Cami in French, seeing the blonde's eyes widened in shock at how easily Rhea switched to another language, making Rhea chuckle.

"So, what brings the family back?" Cami asked.

"Well, my fiancé's brother is here somewhere. He's apparently got himself in a bit of a bind." She rolled her eyes. As soon as they reached New Orleans, she and Elijah split up to follow different leads, and Rhea took the option to start at where Jane-Anne Deveraux works while Elijah started with the witches.

Camille smirked, "From the way that you look, it seems like it's a common occurrence." She remarked.

The hybrid winces because Camille really has no idea how spot on she really is, "Well... he's complicated—he's defiant, ill-mannered, and a little temperamental. He has a long history of getting himself into trouble." She explains and then shrugs, "To be frank, he's an asshole."

Camille laughed once more at her bluntness, "And I'm guessing your fiancé have a long history of getting him out of it." Rhea only raised her glass in response, "What kind of bind is your brother in?"

Rhea's eyes rolled once more, "He believes there are people in this town that are conspiring against him." She said sarcastically.

"Wow. Narcissistic and paranoid." Cami shakes her head. "Sorry. Bartender with a grad degree in psychology. Total cliché."

     "Read me."

     Cami looks her up and down as if she's analysing her. Her mouth pulls to the side to think before she speaks—she doesn't want to piss off the stranger with the powerful aura surrounding her, "You hold yourself in a manner that you think you're too smart for everyone—and you are. You're cunning even. You most likely took extra curricular classes to avoid spending time around a situation that made you uncomfortable like sports or a language. You're probably the protective friend, but, the man you're engaged to makes you a softy; probably is the protector for you."

     "And you got that just from looking at me?" Rhea's eyebrow raised, wondering if she was truly such an open book. She thought she was much more mysterious than she was.

     "Your muscle tone tells me you did a lot of sport, since it's all over it was most likely more than one sport. The way you easily spoke another language tells me you most definitely took other classes. Your demeanour when you talk about your fiancé tells me you're protective from how you shift into a defensive position when you talk about them. Your wit lets me know of everything else."

     Rhea smirked, "Oh, you're good." She said, finishing the wine, "Listen, Cami, I'm looking for someone who might shed some light on his current predicament. She works here, Jane-Anne Deveraux. Any idea where I might find her?"

     Camille looked intrigued, "No. But, I know someone who might."

     Rhea walked in a busy street of New Orleans. It was dark out, just some bright signs can be seen yet Rhea felt perfectly safe. Music could be heard from the band playing nearby, and there were still people everywhere despite how late it was. Rhea walked to a female tour guide, who was talking to some tourists.

     "Welcome to New Orleans, and the crown jewel of the Crescent city, the French Quarter. Jazz and jambalaya, romance, poetry, not to mention the things that go bump in the night. Monsters that feed off human blood, vengeful spirits of the dead, and my personal favorite, the witches." The tour guide tells the tourists, as they looked in awe at the streets. She then stopped in front of a shop, "Here we have the voodoo shop, Jardin Gris. Go on, browse for a hex." The tourists enter the shop while the tour guide stays outside, taking a few steps towards the couple who were standing near the shop before she stopped, "Are you going to continue following me, Rhea, or do you wanna talk?"

     Rhea's eyebrow raised as she looked intrigued, "You know who I am." She stated with confusion. She's never been to New Orleans and she's surprised to know that people already know who she is; it's to be expected being engaged to Elijah.

     "The Original hybrid's first successful hybrid, soulmates with the Original vampire that always wears a suit." She pointed out and Rhea smiled at the mention of Elijah, "You and your future family are famous amongst the witches, especially with your... brother-in-law back in town."

     "Well, Klaus is here because he learned that a witch was conspiring against him. Someone by the name of Jane-Anne Deveraux." Rhea spoke up.

     "You're the second person that's asked me for her today." The girl shrugged, "But, if you're looking for Jane Anne, you're a little late."

     Rhea looked concerned, "Are you telling me she's dead?" She asked, all hope for sorting this out flying out the window if her only lead was dead.

The girl nodded her head, "Come on, her sister, Sophie's, gonna want to talk to you." She says and then lead her down a quieter street in the French Quarter.

There was a crowd of witches—Rhea could smell it from the way they constantly just smelt like herbs. They stood, knelt and crouched sadly around the body of their fallen friend, Jane-Anne—her body laid on the ground, obviously dead, with blood on its neck. There were some flowers and candles around the corpse and they were clearly holding a funeral for Jane-Anne.

Sophie Deveraux sat near her sister, weeping silently while all the witches look on with a depressed gaze. Rhea could feel the shock that was coming from her gut as they stop a few feet away from the mourning witches.

"That's Jane-Anne?" The hybrid pointed at her in disbelief and horror, "Killed in public for anyone to find..."

     "Only people that come around here are the witches. Now her sister has come to take her body. Her spirit can't rest until it's been properly interred in the cemetery." Sabine explained while they continued to watch.

She shut her eyes momentarily, "Please tell me that Klaus had nothing to do with this." Rhea prayed, remembering how someone else had asked Sabine about Jane-Anne, assuming it was Klaus. As bad as it sounded, then it meant that she and Elijah could finally leave New Orleans now that Klaus had taken care of the threat—but, on the more human side of her, it meant that Klaus had committed another person over a possible rumour. Rhea doubted that Klaus would've stopped to talk to her before he would've killed her.

     "No. Jane-Anne died because she got caught doing magic." Sabine told him.

     Rhea blinked, "What do you mean she got caught doing magic?" She asked. The whole point of witches was that they could do magic; being killed for doing their own very nature feels wrong, "Like, by the humans?"

     Before Sabine could answer, a loud whistle was heard, along with some other hooting—that was only getting louder as they approached. Rhea could smell Sabine's fear as she said to the couple, "You wanna know who killed Jane-Anne? You're about to get your first glimpse of Marcel in action."

     "The vampire Marcel?" Rhea questioned, recognising the name almost instantly from the stories that Elijah used to tell her about his life over the years. She also specifically remembers that he told her that Marcel was supposed to be dead—that Mikel killed him right in front of them before they last fled New Orleans.

     "Things have changed since your family left town. Marcel has changed." Sabine said as a group of vampires approached the witches. She then looked at the her, "I'm asking you, stay hidden. If Marcel finds out that a witch lured the Originals back into town, my people will be slaughtered."

     Rhea rushed to a spot on a balcony, so she was hidden in the shadows, but, was still able to watch what was happening, heeding Sabine's request.

     "Well, well, well, what have we here?" The leader, to which Rhea could've only assumed was Marcel, "I gotta tell you, Soph, this street corner is not proving the luckiest spot for your family tonight. Not half an hour ago, we had to teach your sister a little lesson." He smirked.

     Sophie sighed at him, sniffling a little bit trying to keep a brave face, "We're putting her to rest Marcel. Leave us alone."

     "I never said you could move the body. Matter of fact, I left her here for a reason: to send a message. If anybody is thinking of joining some kind of rebellion, my rules state that witches can't practice magic in the Quarter, and yet a little birdy informed me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something magically delicious." Marcel stated and Rhea held back the urge to scoff, "Oh, yeah. While I have you, quick Q&A. My old friend–the hybrid, Klaus–he just happened to show up out of the blue asking for, of all people, Jane-Anne. Any idea why?"

     Sophie shrugged, "I don't know. Witches don't get involved in vampire business." She lied, yet anyone that had advanced hearing could hear the

     Marcel chuckled while the vampires murmured, "Hmm. That would be pretty stupid, that's for sure." He commented before he walked behind Sophie, her body tensing up from how close he was and he put his hands on her shoulder, "Tell you what, go back to the restaurant, cook up some of that famous gumbo, and keep those tourists happy." He then looked at his followers, "Take the body."

     Sophie's eyes widened and tried to get to Jane-Anne, only to be stopped by Marcel's vampires, "What? No! Stop! Stop! Marcel!" She pleaded, shouting her lungs out for him to stop.

     Marcel turned to her, "I'm gonna hold on to your sister's body in case maybe you remember why Klaus is here."

     Sophie looked desperate, "Marcel please. Her body won't be at peace." She told him.

     Marcel shrugged carelessly, "Not my problem." Marcel and the rest of the vampires walk away with Jane-Anne's body and all Rhea could do was stand on the balcony, watching them.

     After the witches disassembled, Rhea followed Sophie Deveraux to Rousseau's. She waited out the front before she saw the witch leave the restraint through the back door. She goes to a little table with burning candles on it before starts crying and talking to her dead sister, "Oh, you got me into this, Jane. Give me the strength to finish it." The door snapped shut and Sophie turned around in fright before two vampires jump into the alley suddenly, "The doors work, you know." She snapped at them.

     One of the vampires looked at the table of candles and his eyebrow raised, "You're doing magic?"

     "I'm praying to my dead sister." Sophie exclaimed, "Go ahead, pay your respects." She snapped again before turning around and the other vampire was right in front of her.

     "Don't make this a thing, Sophie." He warned her, "The hybrid was looking for Jane-Anne. Marcel wants to know why."

     Sophie narrowed her eyes onto him menacingly, "I'd say ask her yourself, but, I guess you can't, seeing as Marcel killed her."

     One of the vampires sped up and to grab Sophie but Rhea quickly grabbed him and made him disappear. She took him around the corner and bit into his neck and ripped his heart out before he could scream. Sophie looks around, afraid; while the second vampire looked around, confused.

Rhea then threw the first vampire's heart over toward them, the sound of it falling to the ground in a splat. The second vampire looked up and then turned around to attack Sophie, but before he reached her, he is also grabbed by the dark shadow that was Rhea. She threw the vampire at the wall, a dagger stuck in his chest before Rhea came into view, standing near Sophie, looking at the dead vampire.

Rhea turned her head to Sophie, "I'm Rhea."

Sophie's eyes widened in fear at how easy she was able to take down two vampires, "Hi." She quivered.

A smirk grew onto her features, "Why don't you tell me what business your family has with Klaus?"

Sophie lead Rhea to a cemetery. The witch opened the squeaking gate and entered the cemetery without any problems and Rhea went to follow her, only to be stopped by a force field—one that reminded her of the boundary that means she is unable to enter a home without being invited in.

She let out an exaggerated sigh and Sophie turned around to see her unimpressed face, "This is sacred ground, which means vampires have to be invited in." Sophie said smugly and Rhea raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips, her shoulders shrugging in an 'obviously' motion before Sophie's smug expression dropped, "But, since I'm desperate... come on in." Rhea's heel stepped over the boundary line and she immediately followed after Sophie the second she was able to enter, "We can talk freely here." Sophie informed her.

"Then I suggest you start talking. What did your sister want with Klaus?" Rhea asked her, kicking at the rocks beneath her feet so she wouldn't roll an ankle.

"Isn't it obvious? We have a vampire problem, and we need help." Sophie responded, "Marcel has an army backing him. The witches have been trying to fight back. We haven't had much luck, until my sister Jane-Anne met a girl; a werewolf passing through the quarter from a small town in Virginia. She had a special connection to your brother."

"Like a soulmate connection?" She asked the witch. It was the only type that came to mind from how she phrased it.

"No, not like that. Apparently, they spent some time together. One thing led to another and now this special werewolf girl–she's pregnant. And the father of the child she's carrying is Klaus Mikaelson." Sophie explained.

"But, that's impossible." She stated flatly, "He's a vampire. They can't procreate, everyone knows that. Surely she had slept with someone else." She knew what Elijah had told her, that Klaus had gotten someone pregnant, but, Rhea still had hope that it wasn't actually Klaus' and it was just some big misunderstanding.

"Nothing is impossible, especially not when it comes to Klaus." Sophie reminded her, "Think about it–they call him the hybrid, right?" She then called out to someone, "Bring them out!"

Three witches come out, standing in formation around the pregnant werewolf girl—who Rhea almost instantly recognised her as Hayley, the girl that practically ruined her relationship with her brother. Fury immediately flooded her bones when she saw her, it almost doubling when she saw Elijah leading her out also.

"You have got to be kidding me." Rhea snarled, almost rushing at her before Elijah stopped her in her tracks.

Elijah looked at the witches, "Give us a moment, please."

After a very long discussion and explanation from Elijah, he eventually let her know that he had made a promise to protect Hayley from the witches—and Klaus had agreed to their terms to destroy Marcel after Elijah had managed to return Jane-Anne's body from the street to them. In turn, they would let Hayley live despite her life being connected to Sophie Deveraux's. Rhea clearly wasn't happy about this discussion considering that she hated Hayley with a passion after everything that had happened, but Elijah was adamant about keeping the baby safe.

The Original vampire had taken them all to a huge white house, one that kind of reminded Rhea of her own home from the style and architecture, and Hayley didn't hesitate to start and make it look more welcoming—pulling the sheets off of the furniture, and coughing loudly and annoyingly because of the dust.

"Are you alright?" Elijah asked and Rhea rolled her eyes as she watched from the doorway.

"Just dust." The werewolf nodded, "This place is ancient."

Elijah looked around the place almost with disgust, "Yes, it should serve our purposes. It's a sanctuary from our business in the Quarter." He tells her, "Right now, you are the most important person in this family. You need a good home." Rhea made a face, knowing she would most likely scream at him for saying that to Hayley right in front of her, knowing how she felt, "So, I'm curious... in all this time, has anyone asked you how you feel?"

Rhea scoffed, "You want to know how she feels about having a miracle baby with a psychotic one-night-stand?"

Elijah shot her a warning look, "About being a mother." He corrected his soulmate.

Hayley shrugged, "I–I was abandoned when I was born and my adoptive parents kicked me out the second that I turned into a wolf. So... I don't really know how I feel about being a mother because I... I never really had a good one." She says sadly and Rhea held back the urge to roll her eyes once more but Elijah kept his warning gaze with her to make sure she didn't step out of line.

"We will protect you. You have my word on that." He promised her

Klaus then walked into the room, "And noble Elijah always keeps his word." He remarked.

"Is it done?" Rhea asked her sire, hoping to change the conversation away from Hayley.

"As a matter of fact, yes." He answered her, "Elijah's underhanded deal worked quite well. Marcel was only too happy to accept my blood even as he accepted my heartfelt apologies. His man, Thierry, yet lives and I remain a welcome guest in the French Quarter. My only concern now is this coven of impudent witches."

"I believe them to be honorable. They did release Hayley to me. Although, they haven't been entirely forthcoming." Elijah brushed off.

"Marcel obviously has something that they need." Rhea pointed out, "They want him dead but they have us following a strict plan before we just kill him. There must be a reason why—I suggest we find that first before we get ourselves out of this mess."

Rhea walked into another room and the two Mikaelson brothers followed after her while Elijah spoke, "Working together, we can destroy them from the inside. In addition to the secret weapon he uses to control the witches, Marcel has assembled a small army of vampires. That's nothing compared to what we can do."

"And what of Rebekah? Has she stopped her pouting long enough to join the fun?" Klaus asked Elijah.

He shook his head at his younger brother, "She has made her disinterest quite clear." She informed him.

"One too many times daggered and shoved in a box, I gather?" Klaus remarked, "Or perhaps she doesn't share your unwavering belief that I can be saved."

"Unwavering and unbelievably annoying belief." Rhea scoffed, "Especially when it comes to the fact that it's Hayley thats pregnant. You know how much I hate her—you should've let the witches kill her the second Klaus gave the green flag. Better yet, the fact that you've given her the only other room with the fireplace, you should've let her stay in the attic and choke on the dust."

"Rhea, we might not like Hayley because of your history with her, but she is carrying your future niece or nephew. Because of that, she is family." Elijah reminded her and she let out a sigh. He then looked at Klaus, "Rebekah may surprise us yet. After all, we all swore the same vow."

"I hope she stays far away. Because in my desire to reclaim this town, to steal from Marcel that which he holds most dear, I have realised one massive vulnerability. One weakness that Marcel could exploit." Klaus mentioned.

Elijah's eyebrows furrowed, "And what is that?"

Klaus' expression dropped, "You." He said and before he could react, Klaus snapped Rhea's neck and daggered Elijah with the silver dagger while his older brother let out a groan of pain, "Forgive me, my brother. There is no power in love. Mercy makes you weak. Family makes you weak. If I am going to win this war, I have to do it alone."