Klaus smiled warmly at his students as they exited his classroom, tuning out their "thank you professor" over the sound of his phone chiming in his pocket.
Seeing the text message from Ansel, he quickly placed the call.
"Niklaus." The man greeted.
"Ansel, what is it?" He asked. The man on the other line sighed deeply, before clearing his throat.
"There's been a wolf kill on the outskirts of the property, had to be a Mutt." He revealed.
Klaus went rigid, phone tightly grasped in his hand.
"I can be there in a couple of hours to handle it." He acted quickly, shoving his files into his briefcase.
"Come straight to the manor, I'm calling everyone home." He decided.
Klaus' throat went dry at just the prospect of the whole pack returning home.
"I can take care of it myself." He insisted.
"No. I want everyone gathered first." He finalized.
"Everyone?" Klaus choked out, his heart speeding up, mind racing.
"I'll see you soon."
Caroline giggled when Tyler pressed a kiss to her neck as they stood outside his office building.
"I'll see you at home later, okay?" He whispered into her ear, his grip on her tightening as she nodded.
She sighed with annoyance as she felt her phone buzzing for what felt like the 15th time in the past hour.
"Are you ever gonna answer that?" He said, taking in the expression on her face.
Caroline plastered a false smile on her face.
"No, it's probably just something my family wants, but they can wait." She said.
"Or you can just ask Enzo, he's crossing the street now." He told her, gesturing to her foster brother that was sprinting towards her as they spoke.
Cursing under her breath she turned around just in time to see Enzo's smug grin.
"Figures, it's easier to run into you in a city than to get you to answer the damn phone." He spoke, a tone of relief evident.
"Enzo, good to see you man." Tyler said lightly.
"Yeah, long time no see, eh?" He returned.
"I'm amazed I even see you at all, you're the only member of Caroline's family that I've ever met." He teased.
Caroline laughed nervously, her eyes gazing hard at the intruder to her day.
"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything, just wanted to see if Caroline here was free for breakfast." He lied.
"Not at all, I was just heading into work." Tyler confirmed, "I'll see you later, babe." He said, pressing a soft kiss to Caroline's lips.
"You bet." She agreed, watching him walk into the advertising firm he worked at.
"Enzo-" She tried sharply before getting cut off.
"We need to talk." He interrupted, his tone serious.
"I don't have anything to contribute if it's pack business. I left the pack, Ansel knows that." She gritted out, "It's not the life I want."
"But it's still the life you have, no matter how far you run from it. We're werewolves, rushing home for the occasional dispute isn't what any of us want, but it's what we do because we're a family." He tried, his eyes pleading for her to see reason. "Besides, Ansel said it's not the occasional dispute this time, there was a body right outside the property." He revealed, much to Caroline's surprise.
"I'm not going back, Enzo." She said firmly, "Ansel will just have to understand."
"You know he always does, Caroline. But this is about not making him have to." He said.
Caroline pondered his words and couldn't help the bubble of guilt that was building up in her stomach. As much as she hated to admit it, Enzo had a point. Ansel-their Alpha-had been exceedingly lenient with her. Being the only female werewolf in existence, she figured it wasn't entirely surprising.
She sighed exasperatedly, as much love as she harbors for her pack, she'd be lying if she said she didn't absolutely loathe having to ponder pack affairs. Thinking of what are technically her obligations as a pack member, makes her think back to why she's a pack member to begin with.
That trail of thought always leads back to Klaus, and he's just about the hardest factor of it all. Falling in love with him, and loving him still, are two things she wants to regret but somehow always falls short of doing.
He's the one who did this to her, he's why she has to live with this curse of transformation, why she can't live a normal life. Trying not to think about the life she so desperately wanted with him, but the one that didn't pan out.
It's been almost two years and she still doesn't understand how a weekend to visit his family went so wrong. She'd hardly been there for half a day before Klaus had bitten her in wolf form, changing everything she ever knew about the world.
Resigning to her fate, she nodded, turning back towards Enzo.
"I can smell Stefan, where is he?" She said, agreeing to at least consider going back.
"In my flat a few blocks down."
Walking around the empty manor aimlessly, Klaus was mentally preparing himself for the place to be filled with his fellow pack members.
Eight to be exact.
There was Ansel, their Alpha, and the man who'd raised Klaus ever since he'd been bitten as a child out in the Bayou of New Orleans. His overwhelming serenity, and level-headedness, likely being why the North American pack has thrived as much as it has amongst the threat of outsiders.
His Alpha's old friend, Mikael, a financial advisor that assisted in the handling of assets for the packs all over the world, including their own. His son Elijah, not so surprisingly following in his footsteps, who just also happened to be his best friend-practically his brother.
Marcel, a born Werewolf who was orphaned as a teen and been with them ever since.
Then there were Enzo, and Stefan, two bitten wolves, that Ansel found and took in. Both of whom were bitten as Adults, making their transition to pack life difficult, but not unmanageable. Bloody rascals the pair of em, but they fit right in, he thought, a remembering smile resting on his face.
The warm thoughts however, were short-lived as his mind wandered to the final member of their pack.
Caroline.
Aside from being the love of his life, she was an immensely peculiar oddity in the Werewolf community. Caroline was the only female werewolf to ever exist. A source of wonder and fascination amongst them, the packs from around the world having visited Mystic Falls, Virginia at least once since her transformation.
Seeing is believing, he surmised.
A female who survived the transition when it was previously known to be impossible, was definitely something that needed to be seen.
She was...breathtaking, in every sense of the word. As a person, as a lover, even as a wolf.
And she despised his very existence.
Not that he could blame her, it's all his bloody fault. And yet, he felt no remorse for what he did. It hurt every ounce of his soul to have her feel the way she does about him, to have her look at him the way she now only knows how, to have her utmost distaste for his presence visible.
Even given all of that, he'd do it all over again if he had to. In a heartbeat.
Caroline may not ever find out why he impulsively bit her that day two years ago, and for the good of the pack he had no intentions of ever telling her.
"Niklaus." A voice shouted out, breaking Klaus free from his thoughts.
Turning towards the door, his heart leapt at the sight of Mikael, and Elijah.
"It's good to see you, boy." He greeted happily, wrapping his arms around the man that was alongside his son as he was raised.
"Mikael," he returned, "what pack in Europe's business did we pull you away from?" He teased.
"Spain's. However, there assets were fairly easy to move around, I was having a drink in Mallorca when Ansel called." He bragged.
"My father, ever the traveller." Elijah said, opening his arms to receive Klaus next.
"Brother." Klaus said freely, acknowledging that they've always seen each other as such.
"Where's Ansel?" He heard Mikael ask, pulling away from Elijah's embrace.
"Downstairs." He confirmed, gesturing that he lead the way.
"How go your classes?" Elijah inquired, the wooden stairs down to the basement creaking as they made their way down.
"As well as teaching Art History at Whitmore can go." He answered cheekily.
"Old friend." Klaus heard Ansel mutter, holding Mikael tightly.
"We came as soon as we could." Elijah said, gravitating towards his Alpha to greet him.
"What's going on, we haven't had any problems with Mutts in years." Mikael assessed, expressing surprise at the very reason they were currently gathered.
"We need to track who it is and handle it. Whoever did this, broke a cardinal rule. We do not kill for sport, and that law must be upheld." Ansel decreed.
"Who's at the top of the list?" Elijah brought up, referring to the current list of known Mutts across North America that might have conflict with the pack.
Ansel shook his head. "That's the thing, I didn't recognize the scent. It's a Mutt we must have not made note of, or perhaps a newly turned." he devised. "I've called everyone home." he revealed. "Marcel, Enzo, Stefan-"
"Caroline?" Elijah finished in surprise.
Klaus' insides clenched solely at the mention of her name.
"She's provided no intentions of ever coming back, Ansel. It's been a year." Mikael reasoned, wishing that his Alpha lower his expectations.
"Everyone. Yes, including Caroline."
"What if she doesn't come?" Klaus breathed out shakily.
"She's the Pack's best tracker, and she's well aware of it. She'll come."
"I was supposed to head out on a business retreat but I'm holding it off." Stefan revealed, as a means to urge Caroline into reconsidering, but it seemed to only anger her further.
"This is what I can't stand." She gritted out. "How come we're expected to drop absolutely everything in our lives, everything we have planned, to run back and join them?" She continued.
Caroline loved those in the pack with every ounce in her being, but the life the pack gave her, the life she was forced to live because of it-it wasn't the one she wanted. There should be a line between a sense a loyalty, and an element of complete surrender, being in a pack for her felt far more like that latter.
"I've been away for a whole year, I have a life here now. I have Tyler, and as much as I love you all, you're not the family I've chosen." She whispered out. "Beside's, Klaus should be reason enough for why I shouldn't have to go back."
"Klaus aside, a woman was murdered, Caroline. A mutt comes into our territory, causing that kind of commotion, and breaking a rule, it's our duty to not only find what son of a bitch did it, but it's necessary so that these lives you're so fond of, can remain intact." Stefan raved. "If this was orchestrated to provoke us, who's to say we'll even have these lives for long."
"He's right. The way we keep our chosen lives, is by making sure the pack life is clear." Enzo agreed.
"You're the best tracker we have, Caroline. Your help would definitely speed up the process." Stefan pushed, hoping to get in just the right incentive to get her to help.
Caroline looked at them both, hating how much sense they were making. If there was a threat to the pack, whether she went back or not, she'd be a target. Aiding in the elimination of a potential threat seemed to be the best bet at maintaining her newfound normalcy.
"I'll track the mutt-and then I'm gone. Surely you're all capable of taking it from there." She agreed, wincing at the looks of joy now plastered on their faces.
"When have we ever shied away from a fight, gorgeous?" Enzo brought up. "I'll let Ansel know." He offered, knowing their Alpha would be most pleased at the news.
"I'll have to talk to Tyler, so I'll meet you all there first thing tomorrow." She offered, hastily making her way out of the apartment, trying to come to terms with what she'd just agreed to.
"Will you be alright?" Ansel began, treading over to Klaus who stood outside near the woods out of pure habit.
"Define 'alright'." He witted back, his back tensing at the gust of wind changing the scents present in the air.
Klaus was the pack enforcer, being so on-guard was his duty, and not one he took even remotely lightly.
"I understand that seeing Caroline will be hard for you." He carefully brought up.
Klaus' gaze hardened, a hard swallow following.
"It was nothing I didn't agree to." He spat out.
"And yet still, I thank you." Ansel said softly. "You've always had an unwavering sense of loyalty towards this pack. But you've also never loved as strongly as you do with Caroline. It is I who should be the target of her anger, but you know the bond an Alpha needs to have with each member, and you've made a great sacrifice to see that through." He appreciated, feeling guilt at the look of despair evident on Klaus' face.
"Simply doing what needs to be done." He haphazardly confirmed, rocking back on his heels before turning around and making his way back inside the manor.
Leaving behind a truly apologetic, and conflicted, man.
"So, a cousin of yours and Enzo's is sick?" Tyler repeated over breakfast with Caroline the next morning.
He tried not to sound too skeptical of her, but it was only natural given how little she'd told him about her family. He met Enzo by sheer accident, bumping into him on his way into their building while he was on his way out.
Had it not been for that, he doubted he'd know that she even had a family.
"Yeah, they've been sick for a long time, and it looks like this could be a turning point. For better, or for worse." She lied easily, sticking her fork into her fourth waffle.
Tyler shrugged, sipping from his glass of orange juice.
"You'll be back for my firm's presentation party?" He asked.
Caroline nodded vigorously, "Oh definitely. That's not for another two weeks, I plan to be back in a few days-tops." She silently promised, not willing to let anything compromise her exceedingly temporary return to Mystic Falls.
Walking through the gates to the manor, Caroline stared up at the four story tall home, her heart clenching at what this place was supposed to be to her, and what it ended up being.
"Come on, love. There's nothing to worry about." Klaus spoke animatedly, tugging at her hand, attempting to urge the frozen girl forward.
Caroline looked up at the large house in awe. How was she ever going to make an impression on people who lived in a place like this?
"Klaus, what if your family doesn't like me?" She gulped out, not quite being able to get past the size of the house.
"Sweetheart, everything's going to be fine. They'll love you just as much as I do." He said, nuzzling his face in her neck, arms wrapped loosely around her sundress clad form. "Well, hopefully not quite the same way I do." He teased, her giggles creating a vibration against his chest.
"What if they think this was a mistake?" She continued, gesturing towards the ring that rested on her left hand.
Klaus leaned back, grasping her hand tightly in his before pressing a kiss to it.
"Caroline, this may be many things, but a mistake isn't one of them." He assured her, leaning forward and capturing her lips in a kiss.
Moaning softly, Caroline wiggled her hands free from his grip, snaking them around his neck. Their lips molded together, before leisurely parting to let their tongues roam free.
Pulling away Caroline sighed when he gently pressed his forehead against hers. Looking up at him expectantly, her hands fiddled with the ring behind his head.
"Ready, love?" He eased.
Caroline could only nod, not in a million years having been able to expect what events were going to transpire when she walked into that house.
A shiver passed through her at the memory of her first time walking these very steps.
There are times where she wishes maybe she could have made a different choice. She often wonders if there were signs she could've noticed, signs that would've prevented everything that happened.
It only took a few hard thoughts about that to realize there was nothing her past self could've done differently. Absolutely nothing would've forewarned her of the life she'd be forced to adapt to, no matter how hard she replayed those times in her mind.
A familiar tingling crept up, her reluctant gaze going cold. She almost hunched over in despair after the wind forcefully blew the scent in her direction-his scent.
"If you're trying to sneak up on me, you're doing a horrendous job." She spat out.
"I'm just trying to welcome you home, love." Klaus responded hesitantly, never quite getting used to the now permanent venomous tone evident in their interactions.
"Yeah, well quite frankly you're wasting your time. In case you didn't get the hint, any presence of yours that isn't for pack things, is unwanted." She reaffirmed, not missing a beat in making clear where they stood.
"Caroline-" He tried.
"Don't." She cut off, releasing a shaky breath as he moved to stand in front of her. Struggling to keep her eyes from roaming, she straightened out, meeting his weary gaze.
"I'm here to track the mutt, and then I'm done."
Klaus' stance faltered at hearing how little she planned on sticking around.
"Can I at least help you with your bag?" He offered, even though he was fairly certain he knew the answer.
Caroline smiled cruelly.
"What happened, the enforcer get demoted to bellhop?" She poked, not caring how snide she sounded. Truth be told, most packs feared them because of Klaus alone. Mutt's were terrified of him, as they should be. He'd developed quite the torture reputation, but it was one Ansel was happy to have acquired given his high regard for the laws, and zero tolerance for those who break them.
"Where's Ansel?" She demanded, stalking up the path to the front door.
"You may have been gone for a year, love, but his habits haven't." He witted, a trying smile ever present on his face.
"So his study, then?" She realized, growling at his close proximity as they made their way inside.
The smell of their home was overwhelming. No matter how much she told herself she despised what this place stood for, it was her home, and it was that sense of belonging that she felt the moment she stepped inside, that almost made all this worth it.
Dropping her bag near the front entrance of the hall, Caroline raced through the familiar halls of the manor, following the well-known path to Ansel's office.
Reaching the pale green painted door she hesitated. Even though her lingering did no good, he likely smelled her the moment she stepped foot on the property, she still took pause, almost as if there was a window to turn around and forget all this.
No, she thought. Ansel has always been exceedingly loving and patient with her. He gave into her demands when she asked to leave, being far more lenient with her than he's ever been with any of the other wolves.
He turned away those other packs that came knocking just to catch sight of her-to get a whiff. Ansel had let them get close enough to have the proof they needed, but outright refused she'd be made a spectacle out of.
As inconvenient as her transformation initially was, she knows he's grown rather proud to have her amongst his ranks. Caroline smiled in remembrance, 'the first female werewolf to ever exist-a great honor', he used to tell her.
It was bad enough this happened to her, but to have been seen as practically a freak in a world that was quite frankly freaky enough, was the most jarring part of it all. Even werewolves who procreated never passed on the gene to their daughters. As odd as it was, this was a strictly 'Males Only' species until she came along.
Initially other Alpha's had requested she submit herself to discrete testing to find the root of how she'd managed to survive being bitten. After the fourth werewolf or so to show up at their door with the same request got a good ass-kicking from Klaus, it stopped.
She'd figured Ansel was surely just as curious as the other Alpha's had been, but he'd yet to ever subject her to those inquiries.
"Caroline, do you ever plan on coming in?" She heard him call out, a short gasp escaping her. Pushing the door open with her foot, she almost sighed in relief at the sight of him. There was something calming to a werewolf to see their Alpha in good health, and proper stature after so much time.
"It's good to see you." He said warmly, his arms extended to receive her, no matter how long she's been gone.
Caroline leapt forward, grasping him tight.
"You too." She whispered.
"I knew you'd come." Caroline froze at his words, knowing that having to make clear she had no intentions of staying wouldn't be something he'd be pleased about.
"Ansel…" She tried.
"I'm happy you're home."
"I hate to be blunt, but I wanna make this clear. I'm here to track the Mutt, and then I'm out again. I have a life now, in New York, and I'm not coming back full-time." She confirmed, her voice wavering near the end. "I can start tracking now." She offered.
Ansel shook his head, a knowing smile resting on his face.
"I will discuss my plan once everyone get's here, not a moment before."
"But I can track right now." She pushed, growing desperate at the prospect of needing to stay here longer than she felt comfortable with.
"You can't change during the day, it's too dangerous with the bounty they've likely already placed once the coroner's ruled this a wolf attack. If you track now by yourself, you could be cornered, and killed." He feared.
"When's that ever stopped me?" She teased.
"If you insist on wanting to track now, fine. But you will take Niklaus with you." He countered, trying to keep his face neutral at how quickly her own face had fallen due to his suggestion.
Caroline grimaced and accepted defeat.
"Fine. I'll wait till everyone gets here. I suppose I'll go unpack, then go downstairs to read up on my research."
Ansel accepted this proposal, gesturing his hand towards the door, signaling that she was free to leave.
Caroline shuddered as she crept into the dark basement lounge that she'd spent so much time in.
The mood the room gave off having never been a good one, given what get's done in there. And yet, there was an odd sense of familiarity that she could almost...revel in.
The large white cage stood on the opposite side of where she stood, right underneath the small window. Klaus practically cultivated his reputation right over there. It's why her job was to keep track of all the Mutts who harbored a vendetta for the pack based on his unique enforcing techniques.
Striding over to the large counter in the middle, she began scrimmaging through the old books. Her hands lingered on the pages detailing what they are-what they do.
'Make certain from this moment forward, the two factions of Werewolves, the noble pack, who set and maintain the rules, and the Mutts, lone wolves who are to be policed, and punished. Of the rules, the foremost is maintaining the secrecy of our kind. We are forbidden from undergoing the Change in front of humans, or from killing them, unless the Change occurs in their presence. The only way for a woman to become a Werewolf is to be bitten. It has long been speculated that women are not strong enough to survive the process.'
"What you see is exactly how you left it." A voice revealed. "Your filing system by the way, is freakily organized. You could've made my job a whole lot worse if you were more the cryptic filer." They continued.
Whirling around Caroline barked out a laugh at the sight of the dark skinned man who'd always made her feel at ease.
"Now why would Ansel put you on Mutt duty?" She teased, giving the room another look-over. "Don't tell me you volunteered?"
Marcel scoffed, waving his hand in the air at the ludicrous assumption.
"Are you nuts? No one would ever volunteer for this. To head out on the road for weeks at a time, locating and keeping track of them, with Klaus, while he you know, does his thing."
"Enforces the law." Caroline mocked, never having understood his way of doing things. And understanding why Ansel preferred them that way even less.
"Yeah, make your jokes. I know you've never been comfortable with the way Klaus carries out this Pack's business." He brought up awkwardly.
"An understatement." She snapped.
"Maybe so, but that fear he controls, keeps the peace." Marcel defended. As much as he'd grown to adore Caroline, Klaus was his best friend, and he's always had the inkling feeling that there was more to their story than anyone knew.
"Until now…" She focused on, choosing to bring up why they were currently all gathered.
"Something tells me this isn't just some Mutt who's pissed at Klaus for giving him a beating. This one got straight to it. I mean, killing a woman and dumping the body right on the outskirts of the property? That's calculated." He reasoned. "It puts us in a hard spot with local P.D and they know it."
"But why now?" Caroline questioned, her temperature rising.
Marcel shrugged, extending his arm to the visibly bothered blonde.
"That's what Ansel gathered us all to find out. Come on, the Pack's ready."
"You said the scent doesn't belong to any of the documented Mutts. Which would have to mean they were newly turned, wouldn't it?" Stefan brought up from his seat in between Klaus, and Enzo.
"Assuming that's true, someone would've had to bite him. And that takes us back to any and all current Mutt's that we've last tracked." Elijah established.
"But we can't start with the list." Caroline cut in. "We don't have the time."
Ansel nodded in agreement.
"Caroline's right. Whoever this is, has created very pressing problems that affect the state of this entire town. This wolf needs to be handled immediately, before they start racking up a body count. They've already killed one civilian, it's best we stop it at that. There's no time to send some of you to locate and interrogate wolves from the list. First we track the one here in Mystic Falls, and follow the trail they provide." He decided.
"So we wait for nightfall, and then who goes out to track with Caroline?" Enzo inquired.
Ansel glared around the pack hesitantly.
"The Sheriff has asked that we provide landscapes to the property for the perimeter sweep they'll be conducting tomorrow. Mikael and I will go hand those in late this afternoon. Stefan will stay behind to look after the property, the rest of you will track." Ansel ordered.
"There's a Mutt out there biting, and turning, men, I assure you no one gets bitten without ulterior motive, so I want answers." He finalized, meeting Klaus' gaze apologetically.
Klaus' demeanor deflated at his Alpha's words, as harsh as they were, they were entirely true. Watching the Pack stand and go their separate ways to prepare for the night, his eyes focused on Caroline, as they always managed to do. Her gaze was hard, but concentrated. It's been a long time since she's geared up for a fight, and yet he knew she'd be as sharp as ever. He could hardly ever expect less.
Thinking of her now, of what she was, made him sulk in what he had to do to get her there.
Caroline was becoming alarmed at Klaus' jittery stature. He'd been pacing the front hallway of his home in Mystic Falls for a good 15 minutes, not saying a single word since they'd returned from their stroll through the land.
"Klaus, what's wrong with you?" She questioned in concern, "Do you need to go lie down, maybe I can go get you a glass of water, you're starting to fr-" She was saying before he cut her off.
"Caroline, I need you to think right now. When we were outside, did you see anything?" He asked.
Her eyes narrowed, hands going up in confusion.
"Did I what? Klaus-" She tried, before he interrupted again.
"I need you to be honest with me, love. Did you see anything? Anything unusual, anything at all?!" He asked more forcefully, only furthering Caroline's lack of understanding.
"I mean, besides a forest that looks like it goes on for miles, not really?" She confirmed. "The land is beautiful, Klaus. But no offense to you and your family, there's not much to see." She joked, smiling when she saw Klaus visibly relax.
His arms reached out to grasp her waist, nuzzling his face in her heap of blonde curls.
"What's gotten into you?" She asked, running her fingers through the curls at the base of his neck.
"Nothing, I just-I thought, nevermind me, love." He whispered into her hair, his arms roaming her back.
"Niklaus." A cold voice called out, freezing him where he stood. Grasping the woman in his arms tighter, Klaus pressed a kiss to her temple.
"I love you." He spoke softly, before stalking over to the dark haired man that stood by the entryway to the kitchen.
"Ansel, I can-"
"Please accompany me to the kitchen for a moment, son." He ordered.
Klaus gasped, but nodded shamefully before retreating deeper into the house.
"You must be Caroline, it's lovely to meet you." Ansel greeted, taking in the appearance of the relatively calm girl that stood in his home. "Klaus will return shortly, I just need to borrow him for a moment." He said.
Caroline's expression turned from enchanted to puzzled in seconds, sensing the odd vibe in whatever had just transpired.
"Of course." She agreed. "You have a lovely home."
Ansel smiled, "Thank you. Please, have a seat." He offered, before turning around and stomping into the kitchen where a very nervous man was waiting for him.
The moment he'd step foot into the spacious room, Klaus leapt out at him.
"Ansel, you don't understand." He opened, nerves becoming more fried by the second at his Alpha's unwavering gaze.
"What I understand is that you brought this girl to our home unannounced, and that I was in wolf form when you were outside. Surely she must have seen." He revealed, only causing Klaus to grow worse in his state.
"That's the thing, she didn't see anything." He tried. "She didn't see anything." He repeated, his stomach churning at what this would all mean.
"Niklaus...you know that's a risk we cannot take. If there's even a small percent chance that she might have seen, a glance, from her peripherals, maybe she thinks she imagined it, but all remains the same." Ansel said, not willing to waver what he must do to uphold the rules of Pack law.
"Please." Klaus pleaded. "Don't make me do this. I'm begging you."
Ansel sighed out of sympathy, placing his hands on Klaus' shoulders.
"Son, I'm truly sorry, I know you love her." He began. "But she's seen what we are, for that she has to die-it's the law."
Klaus tore his father figure's arms off of him, stepping back.
"I don't give a damn about your laws." He gritted out, removing his jacket, and kicking off his shoes. "I won't let you kill her."
Ansel became alarmed, leaping forward when Klaus crouched down due to the Change taking effect, and before he knew it-Caroline's scream after being bitten could be heard from the living room.
"Niklaus...what have you done." Ansel yelled, after securing Caroline's limp form in the cage downstairs.
"I did what I had to." He answered back, remorse completely lacking in his tone.
"You just sentenced her to a very painful, very agonizing, death."
Klaus growled, his hands gripping the bars of the cell till his knuckles turned white. His gaze never leaving her as she lay on the ground.
"I gave her a fighting chance." He bit out. "Caroline is strong, she'll survive the transformation, I know she can." He spoke softly, feeling shame for having disobeyed his Alpha, but also a small bit of hope.
"Lies you've cultivated to try and see this mistake through. You and I both know she won't survive the Change. Her death by my hands would've been quick, not torturously slow like you've now resorted her to." Ansel argued.
Klaus shook his head, refusing to give satisfaction to him, and to those blasted Pack laws.
"You're wrong." He resigned.
"For your sake, and hers, I hope you're right."
Klaus blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. He was immensely lucky that she'd survived the Change, not that he ever doubted her strength for even a moment.
Looking at her now, while she laughed amongst the others, sparring with Marcel and winning, he knew he could never feel guilt for what he did on his end.
There's a sorrow he'll always feel for shoving her into this life, into a life he knew she doesn't want. But she was alive.
"We'll Change over here, you can Change by the shed." Klaus offered, nudging Caroline towards the small structure in the woods closer to the town's Main Street.
She nodded compliantly before groaning. It didn't matter how many times she'd do this, she always hated it the same. Stripping down Caroline looked up at the darkening sky, finding it to be what eases her through the pain.
Crying out, she fell to her knees, her hind legs forming, shoving her forward. Hands grasping the dirt before her she watched them turn into claws.
Her spine shifted, straightening out to fit her other form. Her cries grew louder for a split second, before the transformation was complete.
Inhaling deeply, Caroline quickly trotted to where the others were, growling to announce that she was ready to go. Her light brown, almost auburn, fur welcoming the breeze in the air.
Following the patterns in the air to the unidentified scent of this new Werewolf, she found that she almost missed running in a pack. Being there, with Elijah, Enzo, Marcel, even Klaus, it was a familiarity she'd never grow tire of. As twisted as their world was, she'd always belong somewhere, and that had to mean something.
Running through the edges of the forest, Caroline froze when she picked up the scent.
Klaus' wolf nuzzled her fur in concern, before she could either reject the gesture, or revel in, he'd looked at her, growling when she nodded.
Taking in their surroundings she'd noticed an empty trailer a smidge deeper into the forest. Making her way to the door she pushed it open with her head, content at the warm place to Change back.
As soon as she regained her footing, she sifted through the trailer, looking for suitable clothing for her, as well as for the others.
Finding a black t-shirt that reached her knees, she gathered the pants and shirts she'd collected, stepping out of the trailer and handing them to Klaus, who as she expected, was standing right outside.
"Trust you to make use of your surroundings, love." He said appreciatively, handing out the clothing she'd accumulated.
"Yeah well, if I left it up to you guys to find me clothes, I'm pretty sure I'd be known as the town clown." She teased, playfully shoving Enzo when he picked at her shirt.
"Come on gorgeous, we've had to have developed more credit than that."
"Save those notions for your dreams, yeah?" She shot back, leading the group back into the trailer listening out for the buzzling, yet calm, streets of Mystic Falls, as well as any sign that whoever this place belonged to would be returning. "This appears to be where he's staying." She revealed.
Going through all the pages on the kitchenette counter, she froze at the sight of a picture of her.
"As if there was any doubt that this Mutt is after us, there sure as hell isn't any more." She gritted out, crumpling the picture. "That was taken in New York." She realized.
"What are they playing at?" Marcel questioned out loud, flipping through the rest of the images, noticing they were all of them in locations outside of Mystic Falls.
"They've been keeping tabs on us long before they made the kill." Elijah rationalized.
"Meaning this is all part of a plan." Klaus finished, "Looks like we're gonna have to go down the list of Mutts after all, love." He suggested to her, trying to get the confuzzled look off her face.
Caroline shook her head.
"No way, I tracked the Mutt, now it's up to you guys. Enzo, did you find a name?" She asked.
"Don't wound me, gorgeous. Of course I did. Tristan DeMartel, sounds like quite the pompous oaf, if you ask me." He replied, tossing the envelope with the name onto the table.
"Great. Let's meet Ansel and Mikael back at the station and head back." Klaus suggested, trying to move the conversation past the almost awkward silence that ensued after Caroline's revelation.
"Tristan DeMartel, why on god's earth does that name sound familiar?" Mikael raved, having been internally inquiring about it since they joined up on their way back to the manor.
"Perhaps you've read it in a newspaper or something." Ansel said, pulling onto the roads that lead to their home.
"Surely that's narrowed it down. Mr. Travels over here reads newspapers from all over the world, he's likely to never figure it out." Elijah joked, ensuing a barrage of laughter from those at the front of the car.
Klaus shifted nervously from his seat next to Caroline in the back of the SUV. Wanting nothing more than to reach out and pull her into his arms as she oddly tugged at the bottom of the shirt she was wearing.
"Caroline-"
"What, Klaus?" She spat out. "Are you going to give me some ridiculous speech about my duties to the pack, and that I'm selfish for leaving again?" She argued.
Klaus' eyes widened at what she was suggesting.
"If you think I'd ever hold over your head your desire to be far away from this-from me. Then you don't know me at all."
"I've never known you." She cried out. "How many years has it been and I still can't grasp what happened. The Klaus I knew would've never put me in danger." She targeted, not knowing how right she actually was.
Avoiding her gaze once he realize they were pulling up to the house, Klaus turned to look out the window.
"Maybe you do know me after all." He answered cryptically, a shriek of confusion emitting from Caroline in the process. Before she could answer, Ansel's growl from the driver's seat diverted her attention.
Looking straight ahead out the front window, Caroline's breath caught at the sight of a body lying across the front gate of the house.
"Oh my god…" She whispered out, a hand coming up to cover the cries coming out of her mouth. "Stefan."
There was an unknowing pause in the car after she spoke, before something in the air snapped and they all moved in practical unison, making their way out of the confined space.
Each person raced uphill to the front gate, their sights, and the smell of already decaying flesh flooding their nose, confirming what they had already feared. Caroline's sobs echoed outside the large estate, the sight of Stefan's mangled corpse being far more than she was prepared to handle when she'd agreed to come back.
Silence befell the Pack, no one knowing what came next.
Klaus moved towards Caroline's shaken form, softly taking her arm in his hands.
"This. This is why we do things as a Pack, Caroline. I understand not wanting to be apart of this, but look at what's just happened." He bellowed out, tear threatening to fall down his cheeks. "And I'll be damned if they try to come for you next." He silently threatened, directing it at whoever had the gallows to do this.
While he knew the likelihood of her leaving now were tremendously slim. But he needed her to see why it killed him to have her leave at all. Why it wasn't safe for her to do so.
Caroline stared up at him, not truly being able to get a good look at him through her tears. Tearing her arm out of his grasp, she breathed deeply, and uncontrollably.
"For once, you have nothing to worry about." She spoke weakly, the venomous tone in her voice doing the trick and getting everyone else to tear their eyes away from Stefan's body.
"I'm not going anywhere till the bastard that did this is dead." She decided. Her heart aching not only for her friend, but that the simplistic glamour she'd forcefully placed over this part of her life, had sorrowly faded away.
And that was something she could not forgive.