Chapter 2

The full moon following Jackson and Hayley's marriage was somehow more painful for the crescent wolves than previous transformations. They had all expected something to have changed. The previous weeks of still being unable to change at will had not been particularly worrisome. They all assumed that with the full moon, the attributes Hayley possessed would finally be shared by all. Even in the days after that first full moon, some hoped that that would be the last time they were forced to change. But when another full moon came and went, anger began to simmer in the pack.

Hayley's resolve to forget Elijah was getting weak. After all, if the marriage ceremony had no supernatural perks, why should she be trapped in a loveless marriage? Jackson was undeterred. He went deeper into the bayou than was sensible, travelled North into the Appalachians, West up onto the mesas, South into Mexico. Typically, it was Elijah who finally found the answer: a child.

Elijah had called Hayley 'fecund' when the Mobile doctor declared her fit to bear more children. Klaus mocked his obvious attempt at distancing himself from Hayley with the use of as clinical language as possible. The change came as soon as Hayley got pregnant. Her wolves knew before any doctor could tell. One man changing at will was all it took. Obviously everyone got incredibly drunk. They were in the middle of their long battle with Dahlia at that point. Dahlia had already had managed to trap Esther in the other side at that point in their battle. But the witches of New Orleans were not about to let some European mess about on their turf. It took another 11 months of fighting for New Orleans to be truly safe for Hope.

Hope was not reunited with her parents until Oliver was 3 months old.

Jackson and Hayley stood in the courtyard of the compound, surrounded by some trusted wolves and a bored Klaus. Elijah stood in the sun looking at the card. "It is the Stella Maris. This could reference the abbey where the Carmelite order of Nuns was formed in the 13th century, the Madonna who guides seafarers, and it is also present on the flag of the Acadians in Atlantic Canada. The same Acadians who are more than likely your distant cousins, in fact."

At the blank looks all around, not including Klaus's obvious amusement at the ignorance on display, Elijah continued: "The Cajun population were originally refugees from British imperialism some 300 years ago. While you wolves seem to have lost touch with those roots, any rural people in Louisiana are bound to have some Cajun blood running through your veins. Although why Canadian werewolves would be at all interested in your little pack is beyond me. You had better look for some magical mariners with a grudge."

"Thank-you Elijah." Hayley through one of her casually longing looks his way before grabbing Jackson's arm and heading out of the Mikaelson compound and into the street. "Sailors or Canadians. Or perhaps both. Terrifying! Canucks with boats!"

Hayley walked purposefully towards her home, with Jackson trailing her, still studying the card.

"Maybe they weren't threats? Maybe some sick gift?"

"Jackson, you don't leave dead dogs as an introduction! You heard Elijah, angry sailors!"

Jackson bristled slightly at the mention of Elijah's name. While there was truly very little romantic love between his wife and him, the knowledge that she had been in love with another man for the entirety of their marriage still irked him. "Despite his encyclopedic knowledge of any and all forms of iconography, Elijah does not know everything!"

"Geez Jack, it was a joke. Let's get the kids; Rebekah has them at the park down by the canal."

Jackson seemed to concede, the mention of his children momentarily calming him. That was one thing Elijah could never best him at, even if he had to share Hope with her father.

Oliver and Hope were running around with some other children, all human as far as Rebekah could smell. Oliver was a happy kid, easy to deal with, normal. Hope was currently attempting to compel some poor child into handing over his fudgesicle. It wasn't working. Rebekah intervened before Hope could do something cruel. Hope had a habit of casual cruelty with other children. It was never premeditated, although there was an occasional pettiness that Hope tried to supress, when she realized what she was doing.

Hope's tendency towards cruelty as a first response was pure Klaus. Luckily for everyone, the remorse she usually felt afterwards was all Elijah. The fact that Jackson was more inclined to encourage this, and that Klaus was attentive to the point of obsession when present, but often away for whatever reason, had let Hope become only mildly obsessed with what she liked to think of as justice, not vengeance.

Rebekah heard Hayley's voice when Hope did, and Oliver looked around with frustration. Nine was old enough to understand that he could not have any wolf abilities without killing, but only on an intellectual level. He did not really understand what killing a man could do to a person. He romanticized the act, and looked forward to possessing some of the abilities his sister possessed innately.

"You're not going out there alone! It's not smart. Even if they are friendlies, we need to make sure they understand who the Alphas are around here. Take Linc or Taylor. Take anyone!" Oliver could hear his mother now, and she didn't sound particularly happy.

"Dad! Where are you going? Can I come? What are you going to do?"

"No. Absolutely not, you are not taking our 9 year-old out into an unknown, and probably dangerous, situation." Hayley hackles went up at the thought of her youngest going on some dangerous adventure with his father.

Jackson seemed to agree with Hayley, about whatever they were talking about. This further aggravated young Oliver.

"Mom, let Dad go out and alpha! He doesn't need back-up! He's the King!" Hayley looked at Jackson and handed control of the situation over to her husband.

"Come on Hope, let's take your mom to get some ice cream" Rebekah sensed the tension between the wolves and steered her beloved niece away. "Next time you want a snack you can just tell me and not torture some poor human child."

Hope smiled mischievously at her mother and aunt and began to walk away from her step-father, who was reiterating to her brother that he would not be allowed to accompany him on his little outing. Hope kept listening, while Rebekah and Hayley wondered off, gossiping about Camille. She heard Jackson mutter something about stepping up, as Hayes, the old wolf in the bayou had suggested. Maybe he would go out there alone.

Jackson waited until dark, waited until Hayley was truly, deeply asleep, and then sneaked out of their bedroom, out of their home, into the night.

He drove until he picked up the scent he had caught earlier, when he had first seen the dead dogs. The wind had picked up in the last few hours, driving rain lashing his windshield. After a few hours of driving around fruitlessly, the rain stopped. The rain had made it harder for him to follow the scent but the sun was rising into a still windy, but no longer wet world. There was something beautiful about the late October morning, the sun shone brightly on the dripping trees. Jackson caught the scent again, close by, and soon heard movement.

He wasn't expecting an ambush. It had been so long since there had been wolf on wolf violence in the city, not since Francesca Guerrera's cousin had some looking for his family 3 years ago. A large man appeared, wearing heavy leather gloves. That was all that Jackson remembered until he was shaken awake, some indeterminate time later.

"Where is the pretender? Where is your alpha?" Jackson felt something heavy hit his stomach, but as he was already in pain it barely added to it, other than to knock the wind out of him. There was something around his neck, burning him.

"That's him you idiot." There was another blow to his abdomen, Jackson grunted but didn't speak. "We need to know where the others are."

The sun was setting. Whoever had him, he knew he could hold out at least another 12 hours.

Jackson woke to something extremely painful being dragged across his chest.

"Where are the others?" Jackson tried to regain some control. He had decided that Klaus' compound would be the best place to lead these wolves. The children would be at school, the Mikaelson's would be lounging around as usual. Hayley may be out looking for him, but Elijah would be there to come to his defense, if Klaus reacted with indifference.

"The Abattoir, in the French Quarter"