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

Days had gone by since Davina's death, and things had only gotten stranger. Somehow, someone managed to kill a bunch of Marcel's daywalkers in the Quarter without being seen and the culprit leaving no tracks beyond the vampires' dead bodies for everyone to see. It was beyond any of them how someone had managed to take them down in the first place. Naturally, it had sent Klaus into a rage that someone was attacking his kingdom using a very dark magic he hadn't seen in decades. He could have only assumed that someone was copying their magic as an attack on him and to gain control over New Orleans.

     Then, Rebekah was missing.

     Elijah had been trying to call her all day and Rhea watched as Elijah tried to call her once again. He let out a frustrated huff as the phone went to voicemail once more, "Rebekah is still not answering her calls."

     She could see the worry on his face, "You worried about whoever killed those daywalkers could've gotten to her?"

     Elijah shook his head, "Frankly, I'm worried that she had something to do with this. She's very displeased with Niklaus, perhaps even conspiring with others." Rhea let out a sigh of disapproval that Elijah was making assumptions, but she couldn't chalk it up that way completely since she did say beforehand that she was making plans to try and take Klaus down if he ever pissed her off. It seemed that was the way the family worked. Elijah then notices Thierry drinking alone at a table and joins him. Klaus had officially pardoned him as a way to hopefully restore Marcel's happiness after Davina, but Marcel was too depressed to really show his face around the Quarter to soak it in. Thierry looked up at the couple, "Thierry, is it?" He asked him.

     Thierry only nodded his head, "That's right."

     "My sister is rather fond of you." Elijah stated before his head tilted to the side.

     "She's usually drawn to unremarkable men like human quarterbacks, but you? It doesn't make sense." Rhea said as she sat down also, "Can you explain the sudden relationship that's brewing between the two of you? It can't be the hat that drew her in."

     Thierry's eyebrows furrowed his eyebrows, "I don't know what you're—"

     Elijah's annoyance grew strong and he grabbed Thierry by the throat and pushed him against the wall to cut him off, "You can either tell me what you know, or I can distribute tiny pieces of you throughout the Quarter."

     The younger vampire sighed, "She asked me to keep an eye out on witch stuff. I found something, and when I showed her, we were jumped by some guy. He desiccated her with his touch."

     "So you ran like a coward." Rhea summarised, and she crossed her arms angrily.

     "What was I supposed to do, fight some warlock that took out an Original?" Thierry exclaimed.

     "The least you could have done is tell someone that it happened instead of sulking in the corner like a baby—because, in case you forgot, if she dies, thousands of other vampires do, too, dumbass." She snapped at Thierry before taking in a deep breath to calm herself down from the stress of the situation building up within her, "Where did this happen?"

     "The docks, warehouse fifty seven. I was just doing what she asked. You cannot tell Klaus about this." Thierry begged and Elijah waited a moment before he snapped his neck, allowing his body to drop to the floor.

     "I shall take that into consideration." Elijah simply said before he turned to his soulmate, "We better get going."

     Hayley then ran into the room, having heard their entire conversation, "I'm coming with you."

     "No. Stay here. The compound is safe." Elijah refused, not wanting to jeopardise their safety in case whatever attacked Rebekah is still there.

     "Rebekah is in trouble and honestly, Hayley might be safest by our side rather than in the compound." Rhea told Elijah.

     Elijah paused for a moment and sighed, knowing she was right and looked at Hayley, "Do not leave our sight. Understand?"

     Hayley nodded, and the three of them leave for the docks.

     Rhea, Hayley and Elijah arrive to where Rebekah's body was left and immediately run toward her. She was laid on the ground in a circle of salt with the same symbols and relics that were displayed around the daywalkers when they were killed. They tried to enter but were stopped by an invisible force. Elijah goes to kneel next to her, but can't cross the barrier made by the salt as he inspected his younger sister's unconscious body, "What the hell?" Rhea whispered, seeing the symbol that was carved into Rebekah's forehead and her skin completely desiccated.

"What's happening?" Hayley asked from a distance.

"It's some kind of boundary spell." Elijah informed her, "Someone is channeling her. Typically, it's a lethal process, but because she's an Original, she can't die. Instead, she's an endless source of power."

Rhea's eyes widened, "Well, that can't be good."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Hayley asked.

"We need to get her out of there." Elijah stated before he grabbed onto his phone to call Sophie to explain the situation, in hopes that they could figure out how to break the magical boundary.

After a moments, Elijah snapped at Sophie, "You're not listening." He exhaled, "We cannot enter the circle. There's some kind of confinement spell... if I can't remove her, we can't break the link."

"It's a convoluted spell. It's like a witch's recipe. You can spoil the balance by adding a more potent ingredient. A mystical binding agent—I don't know, volcanic ash, rock salt... anything up to and including eye of newt." The witch suggested.

An idea then came to mind, "What about the blood of a witch?" He asked her.

"Do you have the blood of a witch?" Sophie asked them, sounding a little confused.

     Elijah hung up the phone and turned to Hayley, "I need a favour." He asked, even though he hated having to open his mouth and ask for such a thing. It made him feel physically sick. However, he knows this is for the greater good. Whoever was using Rebekah as a power source is powerful enough to know about the spell, and strong enough to complete it—wherever it was, was up to no good and needed to be stopped.

     Hayley immediately understood as she gently placed a hand over her rounded belly, "The baby. She's a quarter witch."

     Hayley then walked over and gave Elijah her wrist, and he gingerly bit on it to draw blood. They walked towards the magic circle together. Elijah held out Hayley's wrist and let the blood fall on the magic boundary line. It started to fizzle and deteriorate and Rhea was able to get through so she could quickly pick up Rebekah and take her out of the circle. Elijah reached for Hayley's hand, and then they speed out of there.

     After they had returned from getting Rebekah back, she had woken up quickly once they had gotten some blood into her system. She clearly wasn't happy that she was so easily defeated but cut her losses once they got a call from Klaus to say that Papa Tunde was dead.

     Turns out, someone wasn't copying his magic—instead, it was him in the flesh.

     It wasn't Klaus that killed him, as much as he would've preferred to, and it made them wonder what was going on for Papa Tunde to be dead so soon after being resurrected. Elijah crouched down to examine Papa Tunde's corpse, while Marcel, Rhea and Klaus stood beside him and watched, "Can I get you anything, brother? A magnifying glass? A pipe, perhaps?" Klaus asked sarcastically.

     "You have a theory you'd like to share with us, Niklaus?" Elijah questioned, turning his body to look up to his brother.

     "Back in the day, the witches wanted to send a threat, they'd just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep." Marcel recalled.

     "This is a pretty big chicken." Rhea made a face at Papa Tunde, seeing how he was killed in the exact same way as his other victims, "And even then, that's not exactly how I would describe this picture."

     "Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease, almost got the two of us as well." Klaus looked at Marcel, "If he was supposed to be the prize fighter, why leave him for dead in our front yard?"

     An uneasy feeling settled in Rhea's stomach once more and she bit her lip, "Unless he's not supposed to be the prize fighter." She suggested. It didn't make sense for him to be killed if he was, otherwise. It just meant that there was someone else bigger and badder than the dead witch in front of them. Papa Tunde was just a warning signal—he wasn't the final battle.

     Rebekah then walked into the room and saw everyone standing around Papa Tunde's body. She then joined them, "Well, don't you look cheery." She commented, "Listen to this—a girl literally exploded from a grave today as Sabine was giving a tour of the City of the Dead. It was Monique Deveraux."

     Their eyes all widened as Klaus muttered, "What?"

     "The tourists thought it was part of the show, but the witches are celebrating like it's some kind of bloody miracle." Rebekah informed them.

     "Maybe it is. They think that all hope is lost, but now suddenly a Harvest girl is resurrected." Marcel thought out loud before hope returned to his eyes, "This is how we're gonna get Davina back—kill the witch who took her place."

     "Celeste." Rhea whispered in realisation and they all looked at her in confusion, "I mean, it has to be. Davina was trying to tell us—she was drawing pictures of Celeste. She was warning us that a great evil is coming."

     "First, Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores, now your murdered lover is back." Klaus scowled at Elijah, "This isn't witches attacking vampires. They're declaring war on us."

     "I think I'm going to need a drink." Rhea sighed deeply and left the room to go to the study where she knew the good stuff—or rather the best of the big collection of good stuff—was kept.

     Elijah followed after his soulmate and Rebekah followed after him, "I suppose it's not too early for scotch, with all the witchy shenanigans and subterfuge afoot." Rebekah remarked as she poured herself one also.

     "It is entirely too early if one intends to drive." Elijah responded and Rhea rolled her eyes.

     "Good thing I don't have any plans to go anywhere, especially if there's a chance I'm going to end up like one of those daywalkers." Rhea told him as she swallowed the rest of her drink, her hands shaking in a small amount of fear. She can't take on a powerful witch like her. If Celeste was back and wanting to settle old scores, she was coming for her. What better way to hurt a man than to hurt the woman he loves?

     "Maybe we should take Hayley to the plantation house until this is over." Elijah suggested, "I don't think she's safe here."

     "To be completely fair, she's not really safe anywhere. New Orleans is at war and she's stuck right in the middle of it as Klaus' baby mama." Rhea reminded him.

     "Yes, are you worried about Hayley's safety, or whether or not you can trust me?" Rebekah asked her older brother. Their relationship was pretty much on the rocks after he found out that Rebekah was conspiring against Klaus completely unprovoked. Again.

     "It's precisely because I trust you that I'm asking you to do this." Elijah responded to Rebekah, he then looked at Rhea, "And I'm asking that you go with them. The compound isn't safe."

"You know that Hayley loves to be told what to do. She's not gonna like it." Rhea reminded him with a sigh, "I won't like it either, I don't want to leave you alone."

"Again, I trust the both of you the most to keep the baby and Hayley safe." Elijah told his soulmate, "And it's because I love you, I can't have you too close in case anyone does find the courage to attack."

     Rhea let out a puff of air, "Fine."

Rebekah, Rhea and Hayley arrive to the plantation house later that afternoon, surprisingly Hayley didn't put up too much of a fight when they asked her to join them there than they expected. It was suspicious but they could only hope that she had a change of heart when it came to being difficult about them protecting her. They were just walking toward the front porch when Rebekah spoke, "I thought I was gonna have to drag you to the plantation kicking and screaming."

"Yeah, well, we all just wanna protect me and the baby, right?" Hayley retorted almost sarcastically.

Rebekah and Rhea both raised their eyebrows in disbelief at the sudden change in mood, "Hey, I'm on your side, remember? So, what gives?" Rebekah scowled.

Hayley let out a sigh, "Tonight's a full moon."

"So, what? You're pregnant, you can't turn." Rhea pointed out, and quite literally pointed at her stomach to make her point.

"Yes, but I wanted to invite a few people over..." Hayley started nervously.

"Ah, that's right, every werewolf will be a bundle of fur and sharp teeth tonight, while your cursed family will be human." Rhea remembered.

"But, only for a few hours, and won't be again until the next full moon," Hayley added with pleading eyes, "So... I asked Josh to get a message out to Eve in the Bayou."

Rebekah looked surprised, "Josh isn't dead yet? Well, good on him. I love a nice survival story." She said with a smile and Rhea laughed at her. The Original then noticed a man wheeling a dolly out of the house, "Who the bloody hell is that?"

"Kegs out back, right?" Hayley fake coughed to the man and he nodded at her to confirm her instructions had been actioned. Hayley then cleared her throat awkwardly and turned back to the other two women.

     "Huh, there's the Hayley we know." Rhea said with amusement.

     "It appears you weren't gonna wait for me to grant you permission to throw a kegger." Rebekah crossed her arms.

     Hayley huffed, "Listen, you all want me safe? Fine. I'll do as I'm told. I'll play damsel in the glass tower. But, tonight's the one night a month that I can meet my family. Now, you could rat me out and send me to my room, or you could help me to throw one hell of a party."

     "I'll get my clipboard." Rhea smirked.

It was nighttime and the Crescent werewolves had just transformed back into humans, having heard the sound of bone snapping and the pegs falling to the ground as they pulled the clothing that Hayley had left for them off of the clothes line before they dressed themselves for the party. Rhea was helping Rebekah cook inside the plantation house, the blonde didn't like cooking despite being over a thousand years old but nonetheless, she was cooking crawfish anyway—or at least Rhea was while she was on the phone to Marcel, "So help me God, Marcel, if you don't call me back with an update, I will kill you myself."

     Suddenly, a blonde, shirtless Crescent wolf walked in the kitchen, and Rhea raised an eyebrow at his ego as he leaned against the doorframe. Rhea cleared her throat and Rebekah finally notices him, getting startled by his appearance.

     "Despite being in your human form, we were expecting someone... furrier." Rhea remarked.

     The male nodded his head at them, "You're them, aren't you? The Originals?" He asked.

     "Engaged to one." Rhea pointed at herself and then pointed at Rebekah and narrowing her eyes on him, "The actual Original—and way out of your league, so I suggest looking at her with a little more respect."

     Rebekah smirked at Rhea's protective tendencies as she said, "I suppose you'll be wanting Hayley." She then called out to the next room where Hayley was setting up, "Hayley, the party's here!"

     Rhea then walked outside to see that most of the party was there. The backyard has been decorated by dozens of candles and strings of lights, courtesy of Caroline's party planner handbook. Some werewolves were playing instruments while the others dance to the music. Off to the side, the blonde man was trying to get Rebekah to dance with him, clearly not strayed by Rhea's rudeness. She could tell that she wasn't really interested in it at first, that other things (other things being Marcel) were on her mind before he muttered some words of encouragement and she eventually and reluctantly started to dance with him to the music.

     She walked back inside to see Hayley tidying up empty cups and beer cans in the living room that had been left already. Rhea joined her in helping, "You'd think they would clean up after themselves... but, then again, after being animals for so long, it's only natural they act accordingly." She joked and Hayley rolled her eyes as she picked up another beer can.

A Crescent werewolf with shaggy, curly brown hair comes up behind them and joined them, "I seriously doubt you invited us here to wait on us." He said and they looked at him with confusion as to who he was, "I'm Jackson. It's nice to see you again."

Rhea continued to look confused while recognition dawned on Hayley's face, "You're the wolf who's been watching me."

"Oh," Rhea muttered, relaxing a little, "Thanks for that. It came to be quite useful at times."

Jackson huffed a laugh, "Yeah, I had to keep my eye on her. Precious cargo and all."

Hayley nodded with pursed lips as she placed her hand on her stomach, "Right. Gotta protect the miracle baby."

"No, that's not what I meant. I don't care about the baby." Jackson said and both Rhea and Hayley raised an eyebrow at him, "Sorry, that came out wrong. I mean, of course, I care. You're a Labonair. A baby, it's a big deal. But, personally, my interest is in you."

"You don't even know me." Hayley stated.

"Our parents knew each other. They were of the same people, but not the same bloodline." Jackson explained, "Now, you know how pack hierarchy works, right? Everybody has their part to play, and... we had our part, too."

"What part was that?" Rhea asked for her, seeing Hayley was struggling internally once he mentioned her parents.

Jackson sighed and looked at Hayley nervously, "...You were supposed to be my wife." He hesitated in saying.

Hayley's eyes widened and Rhea cleared her throat realising they needed some time along to talk, "I'm going to go and do... anything else..." She said awkwardly as she walked out of the room and into the next room over.

Meanwhile, Sabine was continuing to take Elijah on a tour throughout the city, "So, this next part of town is one of the few areas where any of the original French architecture remains. The most of the buildings were destroyed in the 1700's when the city burned for the first time." She then noticed Elijah hadn't said anything in a while and was looking aimlessly around, "Am I putting you to sleep?"

Elijah then looked at Sabine, "As surprising as you might find this, it's not every day that someone asks you to betray your own brother... Celeste."

An impressed smirk appeared on her face, "How did you know?"

"As Davina was drawing your likeness, I dared to imagine that your presence was near." Elijah started, "And when Sophie discovered that there was no magic in your remains, I wondered—could you have possibly cheated death by using your power to place your essence into the body of another? And if so, then who? And then, I recalled the lovely Sabine. She knew who I was almost instantly. Then, your visions of my brother's child precipitated the death of the last Elder within your coven... ensuring that the Harvest ritual could not be completed—unless you were to control it. You have been playing a very long game, indeed. But, to what end?"

Celeste stepped closer to Elijah and kissed him, Elijah quickly shoved her off of him and wiped away her lipstick that was on his lips. But, despite pulling her away, he quickly becomes dizzy and weakened. She smirked down at him, "Oh, Elijah, my lost love... after all this time, don't you understand? I died because of Klaus. And even after all his vindictive lies about witches led to my death, you stood by him. All because of your vow—'always and forever'."

Elijah becomes even weaker by the second and struggled to stay on his feet. When he starts to speak, his speech is slurred, "What have you done to me?"

"Oh, it's a simple enchantment. You needn't worry. I'm not here to kill you, Elijah, I'm here to teach you the error of your ways. But, I do worry about how your soulmate might fare against this." She chuckled and Elijah's eyes widened, "Always and forever was the greatest mistake of your life."

Elijah then suddenly passes out and fell unconscious to the ground, his soulmate and her safety the last thing on his mind.

When Elijah awakened, he was still on the ground and his breath was heavy, still weakened from the spell Celeste cast on him. He let out a groan, "You poisoned me with a kiss. At least you haven't lost your sense of irony." He commented when he saw Celeste still nearby.

"We may have time for more." She responded, "But, first, I'm going to cure you of your greatest flaw—this absurd devotion to your lunatic family."

"Your anger is with me. Now, if you have come here seeking revenge—"

"Oh, I'll have my revenge." Celeste cut him off sternly, "Starting with Klaus. He is gonna know pain and torment like he's never felt before. Unless you choose to save him, of course. But, then that leaves Rebekah, your tragic sister. She's about to find herself in quite the predicament. You could save her. Or you could save Rhea, your precious soulmate who is cursed to be connected to both you and your retched brother. But, then that leaves Hayley in jeopardy..."

Panic settled into his core at the ultimatum, no matter who he chose, someone he loved would get hurt, "No. No, no..."

Celeste pouted, "Poor girl. Rhea has no idea how dangerous it is to be loved by you—I mean, she got a taste when Klaus turned her, but she doesn't really know the danger." She then shrugged, "Oh well. With your body weakened by my spell, you won't be able to save them all. You'll recover with just enough time to choose one. Who will it be?" Celeste smirked mischievously, "I can't wait to find out."

Meanwhile, Jackson and Hayley were still talking about their packs and the past. Jackson was sat at the piano and Hayley couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was saying she was werewolf royalty and that was just absolutely ridiculous, "New Orleans used to be our town, and we lost it all because of some in-fighting. The vampires came after us, and if our families were united, we could've taken them. So, our parents decided to bring the two lines back together, and... you and I were betrothed."

She shook her head in disbelief, "I'm sorry. This is ridiculous."

"Look, obviously things didn't work out the way anyone thought they would. Our pack made a huge misstep with the vampires when we refused to back down, and Marcel had us cursed by a witch. You are the last one of your bloodline, Andrea—or Hayley, whatever you call yourself. These people will follow you. You can help them—you and what you represent." Jackson continued.

"And what is that exactly?"

"A time when things were different. When our people fought back. And after everything you went through to find us... you're the one who's gonna break our curse." Jackson confessed.

Hayley blinked, "What are you talking about?"

"Your witch friend. She told Eve she was coming here tonight to set us free." He explained.

Hayley halted, "Wait, what witch friend?" She asked and she then felt a bad feeling settle in. She looked around and couldn't see the hybrid anywhere, "Rhea!?" She called out and ran to open the door to the next room where she had gone. She opened the door and saw her laying unconscious on the ground, blood leaking out of her nose and ears and she went to run toward her but was stopped by a barrier, "Oh, my God, Rhea!?" She called out, banging on the barrier, hoping it would wake her up.

Jackson ran over to them, "What's going on?" He asked but didn't receive an answer from Hayley, the female werewolf only pulling out her phone to dial an unknown number.

When Elijah awakens once again on the ground to his phone buzzing, and when he sees that it's Hayley, he answers it. He was still breathing heavily as he tries to recover from the spell, "Hayley." He greeted worriedly.

"Elijah, something's going on with the witches." Hayley explained to him in a panicked rush, "Rhea, she's —"

"Listen to me. Rhea was right. Celeste is back." Elijah told her, "She, Niklaus, Rebekah—you're all in danger."

Suddenly, the door claps shut by a gust of wind, "What is going on?" Jackson asked again more forcefully.

"It's a trap. I didn't make a deal with any witch." Hayley told him as she looks around the room for an escape route.

"What?"

"Hayley, you have to find Rebekah and Rhea. You stay with her until I get there." Elijah instructed her.

     "You don't get it, Elijah. It's a spell. Rhea's unconscious in the other room and there's a boundary spell stopping us from getting to her." Hayley explained and Elijah was silent on the other line, "Elijah... she's bleeding. A lot." She added worriedly before a fire started around the perimeter of the plantation house.

     When Hayley and Jackson go to rush out the door, they find they can't because a boundary spell has been set over the threshold, "They're trapping us inside!"

     "Try and get out of that house. I'll be there as soon as I can." Elijah said and hung up the phone.

     Hayley turned to Jackson, "We have to get out of here." She tells him.

     Jackson grabbed onto a piano stool and threw it at the window in order to shatter the glass, but the stool shatters upon impact instead, leaving the window intact. The flames continue to grow inside the house, torching the curtains and carpet. Jackson then grabbed a tablecloth from an end table and poured the water from a vase of flowers onto it before handing it to Hayley, "Here. Breathe through this." Hayley does as she's told, but continues to cough.

     The fire continued growing in size, burning its way up the walls toward the ceiling. Suddenly, the window shattered as Elijah threw himself through the wall from the outside. He grabbed her and took her to safety. "Where is Rebekah and Rhea?" He asked the werewolf.

     "I don't know where Rebekah is. She went off with one of them." Hayley answered before looking at him  urgently, "Elijah... Rhea and my friend are still in there."

     Without hesitation, Elijah rushed back inside to see Jackson still trying to get to Rhea as she was slowly coming to from Celeste's magic. He was still coughing and slowly losing consciousness but was still fighting for Rhea.

     "Elijah..." Rhea stirred, knowing he was near and her eyes met his, seeing as Elijah was deciding whether to save him or her, "Save him..." Elijah didn't move and Jackson fell to the floor, coughing harder as smoke filled his lungs. Rhea was gaining more and more consciousness as she said with more force, "Save him, Elijah."

     He sighed reluctantly knowing she would not move unless Jackson was helped first and helped him up, "On your feet." Elijah instructed as he helped Jackson to his feet. The two of them then left the house.

     When he came back inside, Rhea was gone.

     Elijah was in the woods, searching for Rebekah and Rhea, when he suddenly found the place that his sister was attacked. However, Rebekah was gone and the only evidence of her fight are the dead wolves lying around, and Rebekah's black leather jacket on the ground next to them.

     Suddenly, Celeste appeared behind him, followed by Bastianna and Genevieve, "Missing something?" Elijah glared at her threateningly, but she just laughed, "You won't hurt me. I'm the only one alive who can break the curse on Hayley's family. And Genevieve knows where your sister is. Bastianna has Klaus, tucked away someplace safe—he's suffering horribly, I might add. I'm also the only one who knows where your soulmate is... and it's all because you chose to save the little wolf instead of your own blood and soulmate."

     When Elijah lunged toward her, she used her magic to bring him to his knees. He screamed in pain, "What a horrific ending to your pathetic, diseased family. I guess 'always' isn't forever, after all." Celeste smirked.