"So, remember when I told you that I told Elena to not get involved and that I didn't need to worry about her on top of worrying about Dad?"

Xavier nodded, but didn't look up from the comic book he was reading. "Yup."

"Well, guess who's now going to Tennessee."

This caused Xavier to pull his gaze away from his comic and look at his cousin. "You're joking."

"Nope," Sera replied. "I just got a call from Alaric. Apparently, Elena was hitting Tyler up for information at the Grille today about werewolves and, now, she wants to go and find their pack in Tennessee. And, I have to go with them, because neither one of them is adequately prepared to take on a pack of wolves on the full moon, not to mention Dad or Klaus."

"But, I'm guessing that Elena doesn't know that Alaric called you."

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" Sera exclaimed. "I have to meet them in like half an hour."

"Did you want me to tell Dad where you're going and who you're going with?"

Sera sighed. "I'm sure that he'll want to know," she said. "But, you really have to emphasize the fact that this was not my idea."

Xavier chuckled as he turned back to his comic. "Oh, I will, but I can't guarantee that he'll believe it."

"He better," Sera said. "He just has to remind himself that we're dealing with a hopelessly lovesick human teenage girl."

"Ooh, is someone falling off of the Elena bandwagon?" Xavier asked, looking back at his cousin. "I thought you two would be besties."

"Let's not take it that far," Sera said.

"How far shall we take it then?"

"About as far as she is my friend but she is being annoying and I really need her to stop being annoying," Sera said. "I honestly don't know how she thinks that she is going to be able to help, but whatever."

"Because True Love conquers all," Xavier said, with a dramatic flourish.

"Spare me," Sera said, with a smile. "I'll see you later."

"Good luck," Xavier said, as Sera walked away. "You're going to need it."

Hiking through the Tennessee woods with Alaric and Elena was not a completely awkward experience. What had been awkward was when Elena and Alaric found Sera waiting at Elena's car. Elena tried to protest, at first, but her protestations were shut down quickly with a fairly nasty look from Sera and a calm talking-to from Alaric.

"Since you're determined to put yourself in harm's way," Sera had said. "You're stuck with me. In fact, I'm surprised that you didn't get me involved in this to begin with."

"I thought that you would try and stop me," Elena said. "After what we discussed the night of the party."

"You're not wrong," Sera said.

Now, they made a pit stop on their way to find the pack. While Sera was armed and dangerous with her magic and vampire abilities, Elena and Alaric took to trading a wolfsbane grenade for a magic death-defying Gilbert ring, along with Alaric showing both of them every weapon that he carried in his backpack. Sera still wondered, however, if it would be enough.

Then, out of nowhere, Damon was pushing Elena into the lake.

Apparently, Sera wasn't the only one who passed the message about their journey along to someone else. Alaric had called Damon too and now both Damon and Xavier had joined them on their quest for the werewolves.

"You sold me out!"** Elena said, looking at both Sera and Alaric.

"You think I'd take you into a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?"** Alaric said. "Why the hell did you think I called Sera? Did you honestly think that she wouldn't tell anyone where she was going?"

Elena looked to Sera, who shrugged. "He has a point."

"You've kept secrets from your family before," Elena shot back.

"Ooh, ouch," Sera said. "Come on, let's not fight. We need to work as a team, remember? We're only doing this for your own good."

Damon and Elena then proceeded to fight about their current situation, whether or not Damon had given up on Stefan, whether or not Elena should continue on her quest. The Salvatore cousins both rolled their eyes at the same time as Damon got into the lake himself to try and pull Elena out and looked to Alaric. Alaric shrugged and shook his head.

"Then we'll find him before then,"** Elena said, in regards to the full moon. She motioned to Sera. "Sera knows exactly where he is right now. She can take us right to him."

"She's right," Sera called down to the water. "I do know where he is."

Damon rolled his eyes and looked at his niece. "Not helping!"

"You're the one who told her that I was tracking Dad," Sera said. "This is your fault, not mine."

After a bit more discussion, both Damon and Elena climbed out of the water. Shortly after, they continued on with their quest, with Sera leading the way. They were discussing how much further they had left and how much time they had left before the moon rose when a clearly sick individual stumbled out of the forest in front of them. Alaric automatically held up his crossbow in the man's direction.

"Stay where you are!"**

The man looked at them. "Vampire."**

The man lunged at Damon, who tried to fight him off but got pinned to a tree. The man, who now showed himself to be a werewolf was about to attack further when Sera used her magic to pull him off of Damon and throw him into another tree nearby. The werewolf looked up from where he fell and his eyes landed on Sera, locking with her blood red ones and moved to attack her instead. But, he was stopped with a wolfsbane grenade to the face, which had been used against him by the joint effort of Xavier and Elena.

"Let me guess,"** Alaric said. "Hybrid."**

"Or a wannabe hybrid," Sera said, walking over to examine their fallen attacker. Her eyes had gone back to their natural brown color. "Something is seriously wrong with him."

"How so?" Alaric asked.

"When you turn, you're not supposed to bleed from your eyes," Sera said, squatting down to get a better look. "I know that siring a werewolf-vampire hybrid wasn't a thing before a couple of months ago, but I don't think the transition is working at all."

"Wonderful," Xavier said. "How many more wolfsbane grenades do you have?"

"Not many," Alaric admitted.

"Fantastic," Xavier said. "How else are we supposed to fight them then?"

"We'll worry about that if there are any more like him," Damon said, poking at their fallen attacker with his foot as Sera stood. "Come on, let's tie him up so he doesn't cause any more damage."

Tying up their attacker hadn't really helped. Not only did it deplete them of their chains, ropes, and source of vervain, but their attacker started to turn into a werewolf…with the sun still out.

So, they ran for it.

"See? This is why this was a bad idea!" Xavier exclaimed as they ran.

"Not now, Xavier!" Damon yelled at his son.

They continued to run until Elena tripped and fell to the ground, coming face to face with a wolf. Everyone froze, not wanting to spook the wolf, until Damon made the decision to distract it by running away. Xavier instinctively followed his father into the woods while Alaric managed to convince Elena to run with him back to the car, but only after Sera promised – as if she really had to promise – that she would go after Xavier and Damon and make sure that neither one of them would get bitten.

Sera was heading off to chase after Damon and Xavier when she heard a branch break behind her. She paused, listening and, when she didn't hear anything else, whipped around, ready to attack. But, instead of finding a wolf or another poor attempt at making a hybrid, she found her father standing behind her. She almost didn't believe what she was seeing.

"Dad?"

Stefan gave her a sad smile. "Hey, Princess."

Sera rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly, with Stefan doing the same. "I can't believe it's really you," she said. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," Stefan said. "More than words can say."

Sera pulled away to look at him. "Uncle Damon and Xavier are out there, being chased by…"

"I know," Stefan cut her off. "I just stepped in and saved them. They should be on their way back to Elena and Alaric by now."

"You knew we were here?"

Stefan nodded once. "I saw you all hiking up the mountain earlier."

"So, Klaus…?"

"Doesn't know you're here," Stefan finished. "Which means that you have to go before he somehow figures it out. And, you have to stop tracking me."

Sera started shaking her head. "Dad, I can't," she said. "I'm going to bring you home. How can I do that if I can't track where you are?"

"You have to stop, Sera," Stefan said. "I know that Klaus is apparently your family, but that doesn't mean that he won't hurt you if you stand in his way. Look at what he did to his siblings, including your grandfather. I can't be the reason that you get hurt. I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to you."

"But, how else am I supposed to get you home?"

Stefan put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You're not."

Sera started shaking her head, again. "Dad, no," she said. "You can't stay with him. Look at what he is forcing you to do."

"This was what I had to do to save your uncle," Stefan said.

"For how long?" Sera demanded. "Until Klaus decides differently? Dad, he could keep you by his side forever. I'm not going to stop until you are back home where you belong, not even if Klaus threatens me."

Stefan brought his daughter into his embrace. "You remind me so much of your mother, do you know that?"

"Yeah, I do," Sera said. She pulled away from Stefan and her eyes narrowed when she looked down at his arm. "Dad, what the hell is this?"

She grabbed onto his arm and pulled it closer to her. Stefan hesitated before answering. "A werewolf bite."

Sera looked at her father. "Klaus has to give you his blood," she said. "I'll make him give you his blood. Take me to where he is. I can force him…"

"Sera," Stefan said, putting his hand on her cheek. "You know that I can't take you there. Klaus could hurt you."

"But, Dad…"

"It's alright, Sera," Stefan assured her. "Everything's going to be alright. I promise."

"No, it won't." Sera was close to tears. "Dad, please."

Stefan brought his daughter into his embrace one more time. "When Klaus gives me his blood, I'll let you know, alright?" He promised her. He pulled away to look at her face once more.

"I can't leave you knowing that you may or may not be dying," Sera said. "Not when I have the power to stop it."

"Sera, I vowed the moment that you were placed into my arms that I would protect you, no matter the cost," Stefan said. "This is one of those moments. I didn't come and see you to get you upset or to have you fight a battle for me. I came to see you because you are my daughter…and I needed to see you again." Stefan kissed her forehead. "Please," he said. "Go home. I need to know that you are safe."

Sera hugged her father again. "I love you, Daddy," she whispered.

Stefan nodded against her shoulder. "Go," he said, as she pulled away. "Before Klaus gets suspicious."

Sera hesitated before racing off to where they had left the car. As to be expected, Damon was waiting for her, leaning against his car. "Took you long enough. I was just about to head back in to find you," he said. "What were you doing in there?"

"Looking for you and Xavier," Sera replied. "Where are the others?"

"Already on their way back," Damon replied. "I sent Xavier with them, just in case."

They both got into Damon's car and headed off back to the main road. They drove in silence for a few moments before Damon broke it. "You saw him, didn't you?"

Sera nodded. "Yeah."

"We're going to bring him home, Sera," Damon assured his niece. "I promise."

Sera looked down when she felt her phone vibrate on her lap. It was a text from an unknown number.

I love you, Princess.

Sera smiled. Klaus must have given Stefan his blood. "I know, Uncle Damon," she said. "It's only a matter of time."

I hope that you enjoy this new chapter! Please let me know what you think!