She's been tracking his scent through the bayou for the past hour when she reaches a clearing where his trail ends. A branch breaks behind her and she jumps, only to find him leaning on a tree and staring at her. Klaus is half naked, he is only wearing sweatpants, the rest of his clothes folded on a fallen tree in the middle of the clearing. At least now she knew why the trail had stopped there. There is something completely wild at seeing Niklaus Mikaelson barefoot in the forest, something that reminds her of those months in the mountains, training Tyler into breaking the sire bond. Something that calls to her soul, she watches his lean body, at home in the woods and all she wants is to pounce and chase and play.
Klaus lets out a chuckle and when she sees his mouth turn from a frown into a smug smile she is reminded of why she is here and what she has to do.
"Do you like what you see, Little Wolf?" He raises himself to his full height and walks past her to the center of the clearing, his heady scent surrounds her for an instant before being replaced by the comforting smell of the bayou.
"Elijah told me what you were about to do, then Rebekah told me where you were and I had to come help you."
"Help me?" His voice comes out as a roar. "What makes you think I would ever need your help, Hayley? I am and have always been the first hybrid."
She ignores his posturing and finds a moss covered stump to sit on, "The last time you turned into a wolf was, what, a thousand years ago? You lost control and murder a bunch of people, activated your curse and then murdered more people, as a wolf, and you don't remember that part. Then your mom locked your werewolf part because of Mikael and thus you've never learned to control it, am I right?"
The wind picks up around them, the rustle of the leaves a chorus chanting around them, calling to Hayley's wild heart. She is able to ignore it, has learned to after her first few months as a hybrid; yet Klaus' eyes seem lost for a second, his fingers white knuckled around his arms as he tries to hide his turmoil. She taps her thighs a few times to draw his attention back to her and continues,
"You don't know what it's like, controlling the wolf inside you. You've never been a werewolf, you haven't learned to reign in the wolf for one night and you've ignored your wolf side as a hybrid. I've only ever seen you call your teeth for their venom and never more. After I turned, during those months without Hope I came to the bayou sometimes to force myself to turn and break any sire bond I could possibly have to anyone."
Klaus lets out a sharp inhale at that confession, but Hayley keeps her eyes on the ground where she is playing with the grass blades at her feet.
"The hardest thing as a hybrid isn't to become a wolf, I mean, yes it is painful, but it's not the hardest part." She stops fidgeting and raises her head, realizing he has come closer without her noticing.
"The hardest part is changing back into a human. Turning is freeing, you become a wolf, pure and simple, you need to eat, you want to play, to mate… It takes a while before you can think as a person while in your wolf body. As a werewolf it's not a problem because come daylight, you don't have a choice but when as a hybrid you have the choice. And that's why I had to come and help you, because no one can force you to turn back and Hope doesn't deserve to lose her dad because he thought he was strong enough when he really wasn't because he didn't ask the one person who knows exactly how it feels."
His face hardens at her last words and Hayley knows that he has decided to ignore everything she said because of it; she would berate herself but if she is honest with herself she knows that there is nothing she can do when Klaus decides to be stubborn, and she knows she pushed him on purpose. She isn't Camille to believe that he can be swayed or changed or whatever, no, what she knows about him, what she has learned from living with Klaus is that sometimes he needs to feel scorned and feel angry and in need to prove something. Her telling him that he will lose to his wolf was the only thing she could tell him to get him to come back.
"I will show you that I am not some weakling who would lose control to a wolf, I will turn into a wolf and change back on my own because I will never abandon my daughter."
His eyes glow yellow suddenly and his bones start to snap, his body breaking to remodel itself. He doesn't scream throughout the painful process and Hayley wonders why she thought he would scream, he is a thousand year old vampire, he is stronger than most after all. Perhaps she wanted him to feel pain, payback for those three months he stole from her.
She shakes her head, and focus on the growling beast in front of her. Klaus' wolf form isn't much taller than hers, his fur is a mix of grey, black and rust. He is however broader than most wolves she's met which combined with him growling at her, makes him a strong predator.
He keeps growling at her, teeth bared and legs camped on the ground, until she lets out a low growl, her chin closer to her chest as she shows her dominance. She expects him to attack her but the wolf yips instead and adopts a more playful posture. He comes to her, starts scenting her stomach then her face. A wet tongue licks her cheek and Hayley can't hold a back a sound of disgust.
She pushes the wolf off her legs and slowly scratches his head then moves to his ears and all the wolf does is lay down at her feet, wagging his tail when she scratches behind his ears.
Who would have thought that Klaus Mikaelson would be a dog in a wolf's clothing. She quickly snaps a picture of him and when he still doesn't react she moves to sit on the ground next to him and starts recording a video for Rebekah and Kol.
An hour later, after playing catch with him and following him as he hunted a deer, she draws Klaus back to the clearing and sits cross-legged while the wolf lays his head down on her legs. She rubs at his snout some more, laughing as he tries to nip his fingers and as she notices the dimming light, decides that it is time to draw the real Klaus back. She half hopes he won't remember what happened so she will be free to share all her blackmail material with Rebekah, Freya and Kol, yet if Klaus does remember she will see his embarrassed face as he will remember acting like a puppy and following her around for a long hour.
"Come on, Klaus. Time to turn back."
The wolf snaps his teeth at her, moving so he is half lying on her lap when she pushes him off her and growls.
"I said, it's time to turn again, Hope is waiting for us to eat dinner, remember?"
Klaus lets out a sad sound as the sound of breaking bones filled the air again, Hayley walked away to gather his clothes, coming back with her eyes closed as she held out his jeans.
Klaus chuckles, "Nothing you haven't already seen, Little Wolf. Unless you forgot how we conceived Hope?" His voice is sleepy and raspy from the shift, it is the first Hayley sees Klaus looking openly exhausted and not trying to hide it.
She playfully slaps his chest and grabs a hold of his arm when he sways back, she draws him closer and half carries him back to her car.
"So… Do you remember when you chased that poor bunny and then dropped it at my feet with your tail wagging?"
"Oh God, please tell me I didn't do that."