Author's note: It's been ages since I've last attempted to write any sort of fan fiction, but I've had this idea stuck in my head, so here we are. I hope some of you will enjoy this. I have no idea when I will get to update, because I'm generally busy with university and life, but I'll try my best.
I would also like to point out that English is not my first language and this story is not proof read by a beta, so if I made any terrible mistakes, feel free to point them out to me – as long as you don't flame.
I might make some changes here and there that diverge from the canon storyline of 'The Originals' - actually I already have... - but oh well, this is fan fiction and it's my story... *shrug* but I will try to stick to the canon of the show...
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or The Originals, they belong to their respective owners. So everything that's recognizable doesn't belong to me.
The cover image belongs to Khalliysgraphy on DeviantArt.
The forest is eerily quiet. The full moon shining from high above, it's faint light filtering through the leaves of the tall and ancient trees. The pale moonlight lighting up the forest floor. Spots of light dancing peacefully over rocks, leaves and small plants.
A small heard of deer is quietly grazing along the edge of a clearing. A proud stag stands close to them. His head held high, he watches the forest. Searching for any sign of danger that might lurk within the inky black shadows between the old trees. All seems to be quite but he is nervous.
Suddenly a rumbling goes through the forest. The ground seems to shake.
The once so peaceful herd starts to panic, as the great stag lets out a cry of alarm.
The stag's cry is answered by a very different sound. The triumphant howls of a pack of wolves out to hunt.
This forest is not safe. Not during nights like this, because tonight, the forest belongs to them.
Mina opened her eyes, groaning. Her head hurt and lying naked on the ground in the middle of the forest wasn't going to make her feel any better - and this pesky branch digging into her back really wasn't helping matters. She shielded her eyes against the early morning sun with her hand and - with a little sigh - she decided that she had to do something about her current situation.
So she determined what the first step on her agenda should be today: getting up.
Lying down hurt, so maybe standing up would be a little bit much at the moment. Following that line of thought Mina decided that sitting up sounded like a fine plan for now.
Now that she was at least a little bit further away from the ground, she took the chance to look around and to hopefully figure out where she was.
The small clearing was empty, safe for the naked young woman that was currently sitting on the forest floor and that lovely branch that had kept her company throughout the early hours of the morning. Mina was now eying that particular branch with annoyance, hesitating only for a short moment before she picked it up and threw it as far away as she possibly could. That, at least, gave her a little bit of satisfaction, even if it didn't stop the shiver from running down her spine, as a cold gust of wind blew over the clearing.
The forest was quiet, safe for the chirping of the birds that were slowly awakening, ready to greet a new day, and the occasional groaning and swearing of several other people close by.
She couldn't see any of them, they were hidden from view by the surrounding trees and the thick undergrowth of the forest, but Mina was glad that she was still within hearing distance of the others. Really the last thing she needed after the night she just had was being lost – not that she had ever managed to get lost during one of those nights, but she had heard enough stories and had enough imagination of her own to decide that tracking back home, naked, alone and potentially lost, wandering though the forest after having spent the night - prowling, searching, hunting - as a savage beast, was not very high up on her to-do list.
Deciding that she had sat down long enough - and because, even after all this time, she still disliked the feeling of wet leaves against naked skin - Mina proceeded to get up. Her body was aching all over. Last night had been rough, but then again that was nothing new, now was it?
Oh the joys of being a werewolf.
Home.
Home to Mina was probably not what it was to many other 20 year old girls. Home to Mina meant the small encampment that she and the rest of her pack were currently staying in, somewhere in a remote area of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, hidden away in a rather undeveloped part, as far away from other humans as possible as to make sure that the hikers and tourists that liked to explore the forests were as safe as possible, even if they were treading on wolf territory.
For most of them it was just a temporary home. A place where they would retreat to when the full moon was nearly upon them. A place where they could change in peace and spend that time of the month together as a pack. Help each other out and just spend time together.
Many liked to spend several days here every month - at home. Arriving a day or two before the moon was full and leaving a couple of days after to go back to their normal lives. Just to spend a few days with their kind, where they didn't have to hide.
The camp itself consisted of several, small and rather run-down looking cabins, that could really use a new paint job, an old trailer that served as their kitchen and some tents scattered here and there. The heart of the camp however was the campfire site, a place that held many fond memories for Mina, and most of the time she couldn't help but smile softly when she looked at it.
Her pack had several encampments like this one and although they preferred to stay close to the east coast of the United States of America, they also had a few camps up in Canada. They simply couldn't afford to stay in just one place for too long - at least not all of them at once - the threat of being discovered was just always there. People could start asking questions if too many wild animals were killed during their monthly 'camping trips' or if a lone hiker went missing after he got too close...
Of course not all of her pack lived as nomads. Some had families and regular jobs. Sometimes a member of the pack decided to try going his own way for a while - living as a lone wolf. Mina had done that several times in the past - whenever the pressure of living under a million and one rules and constantly being surrounded by people that knew you inside out became just too much to bear - working some odd jobs, driving from one town to the next, never staying anywhere for too long... but in the end she always came back. After all the pack was her home. Her family.
All in all Mina liked living with her pack well enough. They had a strong sense of community that she enjoyed, although she could really do without the chores and all the rules - even if she understood why they were necessary, they simply could not risk exposure. She actually enjoyed looking after the young children of the other pack members - those of the nomads that was, the wolfs with lives outside of the pack usually left their children at home when they came to join them for the transformation. And she especially loved the bonfires that they often had during peaceful nights, when the moon was not yet full, telling scary stories and legends of times long past.
Mina really didn't mind being a werewolf - at least not any longer.
Sure, it wasn't what she had imagined what she'd turn out to be. It wasn't the fairytale she had dreamt of when she was a little girl - there was no Prince Charming, no white horse and no castle and it certainly wasn't the career that she had dreamt of having when she was still in High School. Instead she was stuck washing the dishes of last night's dinner. But it was her life now and there was a certain tranquility, a certain feeling of peace and rightness that she only ever felt out in the wilderness, when the moon was nearly full and the wolf inside of her was starting to rouse from it's slumber.
Looking around their camp now, one could see people hurrying about, collecting items, searching for wayward children and chatting with friends while packing all the things that they would not be leaving behind at their little home in the middle of the woods into backpacks, preparing to hike back to where ever it was that they had parked their cars and trucks.
It was as it had always been.
Greg, or Uncle Gregory, as Mina liked to call him at times, only because he hated it - apparently it made him feel old - and she just loved to push his buttons, was observing the departure of his pack from where he sat on top of the wooden table in front of the kitchen-trailer that usually served as their dinner table.
„Ever the vigilant Alpha." Mina teased as she took a seat beside her uncle.
„It's what I do." He answered easily, giving her a cheeky grin. But after a moment his expression turns serious again.
„I know that you've heard about it. There's been a lot of rumors lately... about a child..." Greg continued softly, all the while proceeding to observe his pack as they ran about the campsite.
„Yes, I know... what about it? Do you believe the rumors to be true?" Mina asked looking at her uncle.
„I don't know... but I think this is worth investigating, don't you agree? And I just so happen to know that you, my dear, are not too bad at snooping around. Really sometimes it seems to me that you know more about this pack than I do, and I'm supposed to be the Alpha here." Greg said jokingly. „What's Annie doing with Jeff over there anyway, I thought she was with that doctor-guy she told us about?", he asked, observing the couple.
„Seriously Uncle Greg, Annie ditched that guy weeks ago. And he was a lawyer, by the way." Mina lectured, playing along.
„See, that's what I mean. But seriously now, I know that I can trust you with this and you know how to get by on your own. So, are you interested in a little road-trip?" The Alpha wolf asked.
Greg finally turned to his niece and took her hand in his, placing something small into her palm – a ring on a leather cord.
It was a really old ring. Mina had seen it before plenty of times, her uncle usually wore on the middle finger of his right hand. It was beautifully crafted, an intricate design had been etched into the metal band of the ring. Whoever had crafted this ring had clearly put a lot of time and effort into perfecting this piece of jewelry.
But it was not the ring itself that held so much meaning to their pack. It was the small, smooth black stone that was set into the ring. It was this little stone that made the ring as valuable as it was. With this ring, a werewolf could control their transformation.
No one really knew what kind of stone it was, or what spell had been used to enchant it. This little ring had been passed down from Alpha to Alpha for so many generations that no one knew when or where it originated from.
Even though it was tempting to go out and find a witch to work out the secrets behind this ring and create more, so that the entire pack could benefit from the mysterious, wonderful enchantment, no one had ever done it. It was simply too dangerous, because the vampires would find out about it and they would retaliate if they thought that the wolves were creating something that could be used as a weapon against them. Therefore it had long since been decided that the ring would be kept a secret, used only by the Alpha or someone the Alpha deemed to be worthy enough to be entrusted with something this valuable.
And so they had guarded this ring for generations.
Mina looked up at her uncle, surprise written all over her face.
Gregory could obviously see her confusion. He just smiled.
„If you're going to New Orleans, you're going to need this, sweetheart. New Orleans is Crescent territory, and the Crescents have never liked us very much. Not to mention that that town is crawling with vampires and witches. So I'd rather you be safe than sorry, okay? Not to mention that this ring was your father's before it was mine, so it only seems right that you take it now."