:･ﾟ☆｡•:･ﾟ☆｡•

chapter nineteen ━ tragedy breeds vengeance

━━━━★✼☆｡━━━━

❝ join me! ❞

━━━━★✼☆｡━━━━

THOMAS HAD CRIED until he was exhausted, falling asleep. Athena managed to get him to stand up and make it to the bedroom before he pulled her with him onto the bed and laid her down on her back, his legs intertwined with her's, his head resting on her stomach. He made sure not to put his whole weight on her but when he fell asleep, he couldn't anymore. So she had placed a pillow where his head was, not daring to move him away from her because he needed her. She had never seen him so heartbroken and she couldn't understand why he felt so strongly about taking care of her. Yes, they were mates, but the reason for his utter devotion was deeper than that fact.

In the morning he didn't want to leave her side or let her go. While he made waffles, he made sure she was right next to him, one arm wrapped around her waist. He would kiss her temple sometimes, murmuring something she couldn't hear even with her heightened sense. When they ate, he had ended up sitting on the couch, laying his head on her shoulder. He had even asked her if she wanted to move in since she was already sleeping at his apartment regularly. She agreed, telling him she'd keep her stuff in her room at the compound and would simply buy new clothes to keep at his apartment. That's what they planned to do that day until Elijah told them to come to the bayou.

Athena knew about the rings and Klaus's plan after Thomas explained it to her. She never told him she overheard the conversation between him and her brother, not wanting to embarrass him or cause a problem. She kept it to herself for the time being, even though she still imagined him calling her his Queen, it still having the same effect over her when she did think about it. The possibly sinful thought left her head when she remembered the events before he broke down. All of those innocent people were dead because of Marcel.

They arrived at the bayou to see Elijah already there with Jackson, Oliver, Eve, and Hayley. The couple approached them, both wondering what was going on to elicit such a meeting this early in the morning. Granted, it was ten o'clock, but still.

"So, you're just worried about us," Oliver replied to whatever Elijah said. "Is that it?"

"What's going on?" Athena questioned, frowning. Her brother turned towards her as did the rest of the group. From the looks on their faces, they obviously had yet another problem on their hands. Then again, when did they not? She did notice that her brother had been hanging around the bayou quite a bit, seeming to stick around to watch them almost. Or maybe, keep an eye on Hayley.

"Were you aware that Niklaus promised the Crescents rings to keep them from turning on full moons?" Elijah questioned.

Athena nodded her head. "Yes, I heard about it this morning. What seems to be the problem? Isn't this a good thing? Nik is reaching out to the wolves to help them out, he is offering something to them that could be revolutionary. No wolf would ever have to suffer the pain of being forced to turn. They could all roam free."

Jackson agreed with her, nodding his head along with what she was saying. Thomas stayed behind her, not saying anything but kept his arm around her waist, looking around them. He was uneasy. She assumed it was because he was still clingy from last night. Elijah didn't exactly share the same thoughts as Jackson, sighing.

"There are those in the Quarter who will consider this a great provocation." He looked to Hayley. "You signed a pledge, and you looked me in the eye as you did so."

"We don't want a fight, Elijah," she replied, a hand instinctively pressed against her bulging stomach. "We just want a better life."

"Allegiance with my brother will guarantee you anything but that."

Athena did not appreciate that. "Give him some credit, brother. He isn't some heartless monsters, he's family. Perhaps he is offering some kindness because he simply feels like it. Or maybe, he is trying to be better for his kid that is coming very very soon." She scoffed and shook her head, looking away from him and at the swaying trees. "You act as if he isn't our brother at all."

The sound of a motorbike approached, cutting their argument short. The group followed the sound to see what was going on, reaching the main camp to see a man there on his bike, watching them. Even the pack had gathered around, murmuring to one another, confused.

"Which one of you is in charge?" The mysterious man questioned

Athena went to move closer but Thomas was still uneasy, holding her back. She huffed, looking up at him. "Thomas, let me go, come on." He was focused, concentrating, listening to something. "Thomas, please—"

Before she could finish what she was saying, the motorbike exploded, throwing everyone backward due to the blast. People screamed at the blazing out flames. Athena was tossed back, landing hard on the ground near Thomas who cursed loudly when his back met the dirt. Her leg was broken, beginning to wince, tears stinging her eyes. Injured people stumbled around them, most of the pack affected by the blow.

"Athena!" Thomas yelled, eyes wide with worry. His arms were burning, some of his skin gone because of the heat. His ankle was broken but he managed to stand and limp over to her. She was crying, holding her leg that was twisted at an odd angle. It wouldn't heal unless it was snapped back in place. "Hold on baby, it's okay, I got you, you're okay."

He sat down, holding her in his lap, hissing at the feeling of her bone broken. "I have to put it back in place, okay? It'll hurt for just a second, I promise." She nodded, grabbing onto his arm harshly but he didn't care that the feeling made the burning worse because he was focused on her. "Ready?" When she went to nod, he quickly turned her leg back, making her scream, causing him to look guilty for making her hurt but he had to. "Shh, it's okay, it's done, it's done. You're okay."

She gasped, her cries dwindling down as she looked around her at everyone else. She didn't even get the worst of it, nowhere even close. Some of the wolves were burnt badly, one wolf was bleeding profusely from his abdomen. Hayley got up and raced to a little boy standing next to a severely injured man. She picked him up and handed him to Jackson who hastily ran the kid away from the grueling scene.

Thomas helped her stand, his burn healing extremely slow. When they made their way over to the male wolf who the boy was next to, Elijah lifted his shirt to find chemical and heat burns. She breathed deeply, her own burn marks fading away quicker since she was a hybrid. "Wolfsbane. The gas tank must have been full of it. Elijah, take him and anyone else who needs help walking. Thomas, do the same."

His ankle was still broken so he had to reach down and snap it back in place, gritting his teeth hard, making nothing but a low hiss. "I'm not leaving you alone." There was no use in arguing with him but she was a little irritated because now wasn't the time to be clingy. She bit into her wrist with her fangs, holding it out for him. He stared for a moment before shaking his head and gently pushing her arm away from him. "I don't need it, I'll be fine."

Oliver stood up and threw a nearby trashcan in anger, absolutely furious. "Vampires. They don't even have the guts to do their own dirty work themselves. I mean, why bother when you can just compel some poor son-of-a-bitch to do it for you? I say we hit them back! Hard."

Hayley intervened before he could lash out, pushing him against a nearby tree. "Stay here, Oliver. I need you to look after everyone until I get back. If this was vampires, I'm pretty sure that I can guess who gave the order. I'm gonna go find Marcel." She grabbed a tree branch from the ground, breaking it into a stake before leaving, the couple watching her go.

Nathan approached the group as she was leaving, not a single scratch or burn on his body. "What the hell happened?" His eyes were wide, taking in the scene of his pack on the ground, bloody, wounded.

"Where were you?" Thomas questioned, not wanting to accuse his friend of possible knowing that this was going to happen but he was a bit suspicious of him. Then he was reminded of Nathan's past and erased the thought quickly. The younger wolf would never do this to his pack, not after what happened to his last one.

"At the docks with some of the kids, I was teaching them how to fish." He saw one of the wolves with a deep cut in her leg, bringing back memories so he had to look away. Athena saw the expression on his face, wanting to ask him what was wrong. She stopped herself before she did, not wanting to pry. "Who would do something like this? These are innocent people, innocent kids." His voice grew quieter with each word, not sure what to say.

"Marcel of course," Athena scoffed, sounding perfectly convinced. "He was the one who started the massacre at the party, what's to say he didn't compel some human to bring a bomb here?" She rubbed her temple before crossing her arms over her chest. Once again Thomas began to look around as if he were listening. "Not too many people were hurt, not many got killed so that's a plus. If it blew up any closer to the pack, things could have been a lot worse."

She began to walk towards the wolves who were congregating in the aftermath of the explosion, tending to the wounded and the dead. She smiled softly at a teenage girl, moving to help her but then Thomas grabbed her arm, eyes going wide with panic.

"Everyone run! Now!" He yelled, causing the wolves to stand, grabbing their family members that wee already harmed.

Then, eight different bombs went off in various points in the camp. People started to scream, bodies flying, blood filling the air. Elijah and Jackson were quickly moving around to assist the newly injured, more wolves dying. Another explosion when off, a much larger one. Thomas dove over Athena to protect her, the latter grabbing onto a kid nearby and holding him underneath her so he couldn't be hit. Nathan was thrown backward, both his legs breaking, a large branch slicing his cheek, the chemicals burning his skin.

Athena held the sobbing cub underneath her, soothing him, telling him that it'd be alright. Thomas stayed above her and she was surprised he didn't turn into his wolf form, though she heard him hissing and growling which told her he must be holding his wolf back. She turned her head and saw that his eyes were their electric blue hue, more burns having appeared on his arms and legs, his face full of cuts. Wolves around them stumbled, all ducking to the ground to avoid getting hit by debris. Once they were sure there were no more, people started to slowly stand.

Thomas stood up, not making any sounds to indicate to his pain. He helped Athena stand, as well as the kid. She looked down at the little boy. "Go find your parents, hurry." He sprinted away and she exhaled, only a few burns on her body which healed. "Are you alright?"

Her mate nodded. "I'm fine." He took her hand, leading her over to Jackson and Elijah who were examining the body of a female wolf that wasn't breathing. Dead. Athena glanced around them, looking at all of the collapsed shelters and shacks, everything ruined. There was blood everywhere, just like there was at the massacre. She was disgusted. How could Marcel do this?

Nathan was grabbed, picked up by another wolf and carried to where the elders and wolves with medical knowledge were helping the newly wounded people. Chaos surrounded them. Oliver shouted, bringing Athena out of her daze.

"Help! Somebody help!" The four raced over to see him kneeling next to Eve who was pinned under an overturned RV. "Okay. Hold on. Hold on, Eve." Oliver struggled to lift it on his own so the group each grabbed a side of it, lifting it up. "Come on, Eve. Come on." She slowly crawled out and once she was free, they let the RV drop. Oliver wrapped his arms around her, sighing in relief. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

Athena looked to Thomas, seeing him staring at the male wolf with what could only be described as suspicion. He had been wrong to ever think Nathan could do such a thing, but Oliver certainly could. This entire time he has done nothing but argue and cause issues. He had a motive. Thomas knew that Marcel had a thing about kids, so the vampire was not the key suspect. He glanced over at his girlfriend, bringing her close to him and whispered in her ear so lowly that she could barely hear him.

"This isn't Marcel."

———

Athena knew that no matter what Thomas thought, someone had to interrogate Marcel, make sure he didn't know anything about the bombings. She called Klaus, managing to sneak away from the male Nyx for a moment while he was busy helping wolves that were hurt. The phone rang several times before her brother finally answered, sounding completely calm despite the beeping and the cruel words in the background.

"I'm in a bit of a situation here, sister.

"Somebody sent a suicide bomber out to the bayou, people are injured, people are dead," she told him, having to hold her clothes because there were some tears, her hair a mess, residue from the fire on her face especially.

The second she said that she could sense that he was worried. "What? Where are you? Where's Hayley?"

"I'm still at the bayou helping the wolves. But I'm fine. Hayley is fine too, don't worry about her. She thinks that an attack like this must have come from Marcel, considering he despises wolves and even got them cursed. She tracked him down and plans to kick his ass for what he's done. Figured you should know what's going on, maybe lend a helping hand?"

"I assure you, once I am finished here, I will go have a friendly chat with Marcel myself," he replied, the beeping in the background rapidly speeding up. "In the meantime, please stay out of trouble." He hung up and she sighed, lowering her phone before turning around, pushing her hair back.

Athena turned around, hurrying over to one of the only shacks that were in stable condition. Once she walked in, Thomas was about to leave, no doubt to go looking for her. He saw her and exhaled, stepping back and let her enter. She walked over to the bed, seeing Jackson, Oliver, and Elijah there, examining Eve's injuries as the said wolf had her eyes shut tightly in pain.

"That wound should be healing by now," she pointed out, knowing that Thomas's cuts had healed already. So why wasn't her legs getting any better? Her lips curved into a frown, concerned for the blonde who had been nothing but a sweetheart to Hayley, she didn't deserve to be in this pain.

"She never killed anyone, never activated the werewolf gene," Oliver explained. "So she can't heal, not like us."

"Okay then I can give her my blood, or Elijah could, that'll heal her."

"Vampire blood? Trust me, she'd rather die." She knew that this must be the case for wolves if Thomas also rejected her offer. Then again, wolves were raised to hate vampires, so they most certainly would not accept their blood to heal them, not even if they were on their deathbed. She couldn't blame them. "Look, we can't just let them get away with this."

Thomas, who was still wary of him, moved to stand in front of him before he could cause more of a problem. He didn't trust him. First, he was going after Athena for being a hybrid, now he was jumping to point fingers at the vampires. "We don't know who's to blame. If we start accusing people, we're going to make an even bigger mess. We don't know who did this, alright?"

"The hell we don't! And if we don't fight back, they'll just do it again." With that, he ran out of the shack, looking exasperated. None of them moved to follow him or stop him, all looking at one another.

The King gave his mate a look as if telling her that he was right. Marcel wouldn't do this, he just wouldn't. She looked at him before grabbing her his arm, yanking him out to the porch to speak with him. He didn't argue, facing her as he waited for her to speak. She took a few steps in front of him, not turning to look at him as she spoke, "I don't understand why there can't be peace. The wolves just want to be free, that's what my brother was promising them. A life free from pain and the shame that comes with being a wolf. Whoever did this clearly didn't want the wolves to have a voice."

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, not understanding the point she was getting to.

Athena took a deep breath, looking out at the lake. "There have been two tragic events in the last twenty-four hours. Innocent people are dead. I've been trying to be someone I'm not. I've been trying to be tough. But then I broke my leg and I cried because it hurt." She spun her head to finally face him, tears in her eyes. "I did nothing to help those people last night and I did nothing to help the wolves today. I am weak and you're right, pushing people away is not going to help that. So you're going to teach me how to fight, so I can protect the people I care about. Because I am going to ruin whoever did this."

———

By nightfall, Eve was dead. The pack was infuriated by the deaths of their fallen brothers and sister, their family. Oliver used that very anger to deliver a passionate speech to them all, it taking nothing but a little tap to get them convinced that the vampires did this. Athena stood on the porch and watched him, her fists firmly at her sides.

"They are counting on our doubts," Oliver yelled. "That's right! Yeah! They are counting on our fears! That's right! Right! Come morning, they will know that we are not cowards. We are not afraid!" Hayley arrived, walking up the steps and stood next to Athena, seeing the new stance she had, the determination in her eyes.

"What's going on? What is Oliver doing?"

The Queen took a shaky breath. "'Making a grab at the power he can obtain in the wake of a tragedy'. Those were Elijah's words." She paused. "There was another attack after you left. Eve she's. . ." Her words trailed off and Hayley didn't need her to finish to know. The pregnant wolf dashed in the shack, seeing Jackson sitting with Eve's dead body, looking devastated, Thomas nearby, watching out the door at Oliver.

"They want vengeance," Athena spoke, her words ringing clearly in Hayley's ears. "Blood for blood, that is the rule. After something like this, people search for someone to lead them towards that vengeance and they stop at nothing until they get it. They don't look for the person with nobility. They look for the loudest, the one who tells them exactly what they want to hear."

Her words were put together in a way that Hayley had never heard before. Athena was learning about the world slowly and it became apparent to her that today was a life-changing moment for her. The wolf began to cry and kissed Eve's hand before joining her on the porch, the two standing side by side as they watched Oliver continue to rile up the wolves.

"Look, I know where I'm going," he boomed. "If any of you want to follow, hey, that's up to you. That's up to you!"

Athena knew the truth now. She knew that she had been wrong before. Marcel didn't do this. She knew now that Thomas suspected Oliver and so did she. But until they had proof, they couldn't pinpoint on him. Not yet at least.

———

Watching through this episode reminded me of how much of a monster Oliver was. I can't exactly remember much of season one through three of The Originals since it's been a while since I've watched it, but I'm going to try and see if I can write a scene with Athena letting the wolves get their revenge on him. But anyway, it was a bit of a boring chapter today, I didn't know where to go with this one other than the fact that the bombings awakened something in Athena which is basically the peak of her development for this season.

Earlier she was saying she'd be tough but she'd never really go through with it for long. Now, she has a set path in her mind and she isn't going to turn back. And that is going to backfire too.

I hope you guys have a great day/night and don't forget to vote on this chapter, comment your thoughts, and follow me for updates!

( credit : @pepperronys )