'aren't you like... vegetarian?'

.

.

.

"So, you're telling me Georgie Lockwood is a most likely a hybrid and none of us even realised?"

Emma and Dorian watched as Alaric slumped at his desk, a hand rubbing over his face as he tried to put the pieces together himself. He had known that Tyler Lockwood had once been a hybrid, but the plausibility of Georgie being one genetically had never even crossed his mind since Tyler had been brought back from the dead as human before he had triggered his werewolf gene when killing Liv. He shouldn't have been able to pass the hybrid gene down at all - which left the question of how Georgie Lockwood was somehow able to be one.

"She didn't tell us or show any indications of it at all," Alaric answered Dorian, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought about the towering and snarling wolf that had been standing in the front lawn of his school only half an hour prior. "How do we even know that she knew herself? She literally triggered her curse the day of the last full moon hence we both assumed she had already been a wolf when Caroline found her."

"She must have," Emma told the men, looking between them with a look of deep concern on her face. "Hope's told me before - albeit begrudgingly - that her wolf side gets anxious when she doesn't change into it at least once every fortnight. Georgie's been here almost a month now and she's newly triggered the curse, she surely would have told someone she was nervous for her first full moon locked up but the twins and Hope both told me that she hasn't even mentioned it to them and they're the only ones she really talks to."

Dorian nodded in agreement as his eyes widened in realisation slightly, snapping his fingers as he paced the room and voiced his thoughts.

"That would explain why she was so adamant to you Ric that she wasn't going to join the pack. We didn't believe her when she said she didn't even feel the pull at all, but it makes sense now that she didn't," Dorian pointed out, both of the other adults nodding in agreement as they all shared a group sigh at the problem they were now finding on their hands. "Hope never felt the pull either and she's a tribrid, so what's to say its not the same for a hybrid?"

Hope Mikaelson was a tribrid and therefore much more of a concern from a power based point of view, but she was also widely experienced with her wolf control and her magic. She'd grown up around the supernatural and had learnt from some of the best in the world. Georgie Lockwood might have only been a hybrid, but she certainly was a much bigger concern for the adults at the moment than Hope. She was clearly not in control of her wolf form, having tried to attack as soon as her paws had hit the ground earlier.

Thankfully, Hope hadn't wasted any time in transitioning into her wolf form - something Alaric knew she wouldn't have been happy about as she'd ripped her brand new sweater in the process. The older girl had clearly tried to calm down the other wolf but the younger one clearly hadn't been having any of it as the two had started to wrestle into the tree line with barks and snarls and growls. 

There was nothing any of them could do to help, they were very aware of that. Sure, the witches (especially the twins) had tried to offer their magical assistance to help but the three adults reminded them that they knew so little about hybrids that one wrong spell could leave Georgie in worse state than she currently was. They knew Hope was capable of withstanding magic, but as far as they were aware Georgie wasn't since she hadn't shown any signs of it.

"What if she's a tribrid too?" Dorian suggested out loud, the sudden thought ringing through his head. "If she was able to keep this from us, what's to say she doesn't have the ability to finesse magic too?"

Emma shook her head frantically at the suggestion, turning to look at him with a soft smile before explaining her reasoning behind her disagreement. "I'd have felt it if she had been using magic, and even if I didn't, Josie and Lizzie would surely have felt it when they've touched her. It's not like Josie and Lizzie haven't spent the last three weeks trying to turn her into their best friend."

Alaric sighed in slightly relief at that, glad that they most likely weren't working with another tribrid this time. It was hard enough keeping Hope safe especially as she was the only one in existence, and he could only imagine the drama and danger that having a second one could bring to not just the girls but the entire student body.

"There's still a chance she isn't even a hybrid," Alaric pointed out, thinking about other alternatives. "Since she doesn't have any witch in her by the sounds of it, she'd need to be a werewolf-vampire hybrid but how are we to test that if she hasn't died? Hope's very existence proves it can be hereditary, but there also might be a different reason as to why she can change at will."

"Let's imagine she is one for a moment, so you're saying if she hasn't got it from Tyler Lockwood then she must have inherited it from her mother?" Dorian theorised, turning to look at Alaric with a sudden thought. "I know you said you and your old friends didn't know anything about Tyler Lockwood having a child but any chance any of them would have known about him having a secret girlfriend?"

Alaric shook his head as he opened his mouth to tell Dorian that they would have eventually spilled the beans before he paused for a moment, the thought leaving his mouth as quickly as it came into his head. There was one of their group of friends that hadn't kept as close to any of them who had always been Tyler's closest friend.

"Actually, there is one person Tyler might have told."

_____

Hope Mikaelson was tired.

She had spent a lot of time in her wolf form since her original transition, having found it nice to just be left alone with her thoughts. It allowed her to have some long needed peace and quiet, the ability to shift at will being almost a blessing in disguise once she had learnt to control her primal efforts as best as she could.

It had became second nature to her which is why she had almost forgotten how hard it had been the time she had transitioned for the first time on her own will. It had taken her a lot of energy to figure out how to even turn back into her human body.

This was the struggle she was currently facing with Georgie Lockwood.

After their twenty five minute fight, Hope had finally managed to pin the girl down, baring her wolf teeth close to the other girl's neck to end the fight. Georgie Lockwood was certainly high energy, but even her wolf knew when a fight was lost. The black wolf had almost instantly backed off, whimpering and lowering its ears with a sad flick of the tail. Hope was sure that the actions were Georgie trying to apologise but she also knew better than to believe that the Lockwood legacy would even be aware of what was going on.

Which left them where they were now; Hope now fully dressed thanks to her witch powers allowing her to perform a quick spell and get fresh clothes as soon as she had declared it safe enough to turn back without wolf Georgie trying to kill her again. She was slightly furious at the girl for not declaring her hybrid status especially since she was her roommate and probably should have been told this out of safety for them both but she was also fully aware that Georgie still hadn't found it in her to give her entire trust to any of them. While she didn't want to believe that Georgie wouldn't trust them because of the history of everyone's parents, she knew that her wolf certainly wouldn't be up for becoming besties straight away. 

For the past twenty minutes, Hope had been attempting to get the wolf to turn back into her human form. She had started with the inspirational speech about thinking of happy memories and visioning herself turning back, but it hadn't seem to do any favours yet. Rolling her eyes, she sat on a log next to where Georgie was sitting on her hind legs with not a single ounce of understanding in her brown eyes.

"You know," Hope started, hating the fact that she was willing sitting her and letting someone get close to her. She had promised that she wouldn't let anyone get close to her ever again but somehow she found herself almost feeling like an older sister to Georgie. "You've done a real good job of hiding this from us all."

The wolf grunted slightly, Hope's eyebrows raising slightly as she realised that that was the first time she'd received any sign at all that the wolf was taking in what she was saying. Realising that this might be the key to getting back into Georgie's human mind, she continued a she listed things that she knew human Geogrie would relate to.

"You need to find something that will bring you back," she continued, watching as the wolf tilted its head. "Like... friendship!"

Hope almost gagged at how corny she sounded, holding back an eye roll before turning back to look at the wolf.

"I hate this, I'm not made out for these stupid inspirational messages about family and friends," Hope muttered, stopping her attempt almost as soon as she started. "If I wasn't so scared you'd try and rip them to shreds, I'd have asked like Lizzie or Josie to do this part."

She trailed off as she heard a gasp to her left, jumping to her feet as she turned to see a fully naked but human Georgie crouched on the forest floor with wide eyes as she stared at the blood on her arms and hands. Quickly grabbing the spare set of sweatpants and the Salvatore branded sweater that she had summoned with her magic, Hope passed them to Georgie who tugged them on while barely taking her eyes off the dried blood on her body.

Hope took a step towards Georgie once she was fully clothed, but instantly regretted her actions as the girl scrambled backwards. Her foot caught on a tree foot and she stumbled slightly, her back slamming against a tree as she tried to stay back from Hope with with eyes full of fear and regret. All of her memories were coming back to her in flashes, the feeling of her wolf teeth biting into the flesh of another sending a shiver up her mind. The slight blood on Hope's own hands told her that it was most likely the Mikaelson's blood on her hands too.

"The blood..." Georgie whispered, Hope's heart almost aching a little at how vulnerable she sounded. Even though she had only known the Lockwood a short period of time, she hadn't heard the girl sound this broken - and she knew that the girl was yet to even fully comprehend what she had done to the professor that she had killed to trigger her werewolf curse at the start of the month.

"Some of it is mine, yes," Hope tried to soothe the girl but hurried her words up as Georgie tried to move further away from Hope in shame. The last thing anyone needed was for Georgie's emotions to flare too high again and cause another shift. "But a little is yours too, sorry about that, and you also did devour a raccoon."

Hope wasn't sure what she expected, but Georgie instantly turned her head and gagged as she took in the news that she had eaten a raccoon while in her wolf form. The whole ordeal of exposing herself to the student body, almost ripping into Hope and turning back from a wolf for only the second time in her life instantly faded from her mind as she heard what the girl just said.

"I ATE WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?" Georgie yelled in disgust, still retching as she started to get flashes in her mind of eating something fluffy and soft. Hope threw her hands up in despair, her eyes almost bulging at how this was the thing that Georgie was choosing to get upset about. The girl seemed genuinely distressed, her eyes wide and a hand pressed to her stomach in disgust. "I'M A VEGETARIAN HOPE!"

"Maybe I would have been able to prevent this, IF YOU HAD TOLD ME YOU WERE A HYBRID!" Hope countered back, breaking her promise to herself that she wouldn't get too angry at the young wolf. Georgie looked as if Hope had just slapped her across the face, the guilt and hurt spreading quickly as she felt tears trickle in her eyes. The Mikaelson felt bad for upsetting the girl, but she was equally just as angry about her hiding this from her. All her life she had felt like a freak not just being from one supernatural faction and it stung to know that someone who was even slightly like her hadn't wanted to tell her.

"I was scared," Georgie whispered, so quietly that Hope was barely even able to hear it. "I have nowhere else to go, I have no-one else to turn to. I was going to tell you all, but then Caroline and Alaric said they knew my father and it was like I felt the closest I've ever felt to him. I didn't want to lose the last connection I have to him. I killed Tyers, my last connection to him and now this is all I have. I can't lose that too."

Hope felt her mouth drop open slightly as guilt formed in her body. She hadn't even considered how alone Georgie must have felt when she was brought to the school only a few weeks prior. Her entire family were dead, at least Hope knew she still had some family alive. Georgie didn't have any uncles or aunts like she did, and she was still so new to the school that she didn't feel like her new friends were going to be permanent. 

"My dad told me he did terrible things when he was a wolf," Georige admitted softly, both of them knowing that Klaus had played a big part in that. "I didn't want to be like he was. I don't."

Hope understood Georgie Lockwood on a deeper level in that moment as she moved forward and wrapped her arms around the girl in a rare hug. She was just as scared of losing everyone she loved the same as Hope would always be.

"George," Hope murmured the nickname as she held the crying girl tightly. "You'll be okay."

_____

It was just starting to get dark out before Hope and Georgie returned to the Salvatore Boarding House. Hope had used some spell to send a message ahead to let Alaric and the others know that they were coming back, safe and sound and 100% not furry.

"Look, next time you get all that pent up energy come and tell me okay?" Hope told her, surprising herself too. "We can go work it out together, whether its turning and taking a run or hitting the shit out of punching bags."

Georige smiled gently in relief at her, never having been used to having people who looked out for her so intently and willing. Tyers had only looked out for her as a favour to her father and the pack who originally looked after her, and Georgie would be lying if she said she had ever felt loved - or even liked - by the man.

Arriving at one of the back doors to the building, Hope paused as she realised Georgie wasn't following her in through the door but rather looking down at her trembling hands. She knew the girl was feeling the regret from the burning red rage of wanting to shred her schoolmates from limb to limb, but she also knew that feeling would pass. Hope was also pretty sure that the chances of Alaric asking her to personally help the girl with her transformations and control was going to happen as soon as the tribrid was alone with the Principal.

"Georgie!"

Hope and Georgie both looked up from the tremble in Georgie's hands as a figure came barrelling out of the doors of the boarding house and straight into Georgie before Hope or Georgie could warm them to stay back.

It took her a second, but Georgie was able to realise the girl wrapped around her was none other than Josie Saltzman as she pressed herself against the hybrid in a tight hug. Georgie wasn't sure what to do with herself for a moment, having had more hugs in the past two hours than she had sometimes had in years before coming to Virginia. Her arms gradually moved from where they hung loosely at her side, wrapping themselves around Josie as the girl squeezed her tight.

She watched from over her shoulder as Hope motioned that she would be waiting inside for her, raising her eyebrows slightly teasingly as Georgie stared at her in confusion. She didn't know why Hope had done that, they were just hugging the same way Hope had hugged her hours prior in the woods. As her eyebrows furrowed yet again, she went to say something to Hope in confusion but Josie pulling away from her took her attention back to the siphoner.

"Are you okay?" Josie frantically asked, her eyes quickly glancing at the blood that still coated Georgie's arms and hands. The raven haired girl rubbed it slightly awkwardly, knowing from Hope that it actually looked a lot worse than it is. They dryness of the blood made it crack slightly and flake as she rubbed it causing both of the girls to grimace in disgust and Georgie to immediately stop doing so. She looked back up to see the look of sadness on Josie's face, not expecting anyone to have been kind about her outburst.

"Yeah," Georgie said softly, looking back up to Josie with slight embarrassment. "It's mostly Hope's, a tiny bit of my own and the entirety of one large racoon too apparently."

Josie studied her with a little disgust at the racoon part as she waited to see if it was a joke. When no laugh came from Georgie, she felt her stomach flip in unease at the thought of the girl eating a racooon. She tried to smile to make Georgie feel better, but the girl saw right through it and knew that Josie was thinking about her wolf eating a racoon.

"Aren't you like... vegetarian?" Josie asked, attempting to make that sound like a completely normal thing for someone to have said even though they both knew it certainly wasn't. Georgie smiled as she noticed her friend had noticed her eating habits, especially since Hope hadn't picked up and she didn't expect anyone to have realised she only really ate the non-meat options at the dinning hall every day.

"If it makes you feel better I threw up when I was found out," Georgie admitted as she say Josie internally feel guilty for showing her disgust at her wolf's eating habits. Josie rolled her eyes softly before reading out to lightly take hold of Georgie's hand.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Josie admitted as she got straight to the point, her cheeks flushed as she looked at the girl that had been taking up almost all of her thoughts in the past few days.

Georgie wasn't sure why Josie was blushing or why she was so worried about her safety but she found it made her chest feel warm. She hadn't ever really had a proper friend before and Josie was the first person to have made her feel fully welcome into the school - and even after finding out her true nature in the one way that Georgie didn't want to happen, she wasn't looking at her like she was a monster. She wasn't looking at her any differently than she ever did and it made Georgie's stomach do a flip.

Before either of them could say anything else, there was a cough from the doorway. Josie spun around at the same time that Georgie looked up, seeing Alaric and Matt Donovan standing there. Georgie shared a confused look with Matt as the man thanked the principal before heading off into the night, the hybrid feeling herself shiver as she looked back at the serious look on Alaric's face. 

"Come in Georgie, we have a lot to discuss about yourself and your future at this school."