Memories and Dreams
~Chapter 9~
Despite the clear animosity between Morrigan and Hayley, dinner hadn't been too bad. Kol and Niklaus were completely amused by it all. Jeremy took this time to start drilling Morrigan about video games. When they started talking about Dishonored and the achievements for the game, Niklaus stopped her.
"You seriously played a game where you were an assassin and killed no one?" the disbelief in his tone as quite clear.
Morrigan nodded, a light smile on her face. "It was one of the achievements. Don't upgrade your powers, don't kill anyone, and don't get spotted by anyone. There was one level I had to do like five times, a pain in my ass, I tell you, but I beat it. Only played it once, though. Honestly, I'm not sure I want to kill anyone in the game because the more you kill, the more of those stupid zombie things are around."
Rebekah only rolled her eyes. "So, dinner's over, I think that means there is a talk to be had. You four, go on; Jeremy and I want to talk with Hayley."
The blonde even did the shooing motion with her hands. Morrigan giggled and, as soon as she got up, Niklaus grabbed her and disappeared before anyone could blink.
Kol looked annoyed before he too was gone.
Hayley went to say something to Elijah, but he had disappeared as well. The wolf wasn't stupid; she knew something was going on. After all, Elijah had been paying a lot of attention to the pregnant wolf and as soon as the witch showed up, everything was about her.
Just what was going on? It was obvious that the witch was Kol's mate, but why were Klaus and Elijah acting the way they were around her? And why after the girl had run off did Elijah and Klaus run after her if Kol was her mate? None of it made any sense.
Turning to the blonde Original, "What is going on?"
Rebekah looked at her with a bit of pity in her eyes. It had been clear to her from the moment she saw Hayley and how she talked and acted around Elijah that the girl liked him. Not to mention that Elijah had been feeling something back, but all this was changing and unlike the rest of them, only Hayley was left in the dark. The question was whether or not it was the blonde's place to say something.
Always and Forever.
Her brothers had more important things to deal with right now than telling the wolf that nothing was going to happen.
"I hope you don't expect anything from my brothers in the romance department," Rebekah just jumped in.
Hayley looked really confused and slightly hurt. "What are you talking about? Klaus and I were a one-night stand mistake, but he is still single as is Elijah. Kol seems to be the only one with a mate."
Jeremy looked at the two women and wondered just how his own mate was going to do this. Apparently, the wolf wanted more than just trying to pursue either one of them. "From what I understand, those three Originals upstairs are Morrigan's mates. So, what Rebekah is trying to say is that you can't have either Klaus or Elijah because they belong to Morrigan. And you really should stop trying because Morrigan almost killed you not to long ago. And if you push her too far, I'm not sure even Elijah will protect you from her."
Hayley didn't believe him. "If she was his mate, Klaus wouldn't have gotten me pregnant, and Elijah…" the girl trailed off, not really wanting to reveal any further her own confusing feelings.
Rebekah just shook her head and sighed. "He was drunk. Besides, a thousand years is a long time to be without one's mate. It gets lonely and sometimes you start to give up hope. Whatever happened before, needs to stop now. They will never choose you over her. I'm sorry that you started to fall for one of my brothers, but it's not meant to be. They've been waiting on her for so long, and now that they have her, you'd be mad to try and get between them."
~MAD~
This time Morrigan found herself in Niklaus' lap instead of Kol's, and there was no alcohol around. A part of her hated the fact that she was disrupting their life and imposing restrictions, but she really didn't want to deal with having that shit in her system.
When the other two got into the room, Morrigan decided to get a layout of the room. There was a table, a desk of sorts, in the middle of the room with the back toward to the windows, though for some reason, there were bookshelves all around the walls like on the first floor. The witch was going to fit in just nicely. After all, while she may have the blood of Slytherin and Gryffindor in her veins, her mind and magic ran mostly with Lady Ravenclaw.
It was a medium sized room with a few seats (one couch and two chairs) each on the sides of the room. There was one door, and it was in front of the desk, on the opposite side of the windows.
Niklaus had taken the seat arched into the window, to the corner of the right side of the room (from entering), Kol was leaning up against the side of the desk, and Elijah had taken the seat next to them that was arched into the corner directly to the right of the door.
While she snuggled and got comfortable in her Hybrid mate's arms, Elijah began the conversation that was long overdue. "It seems that both sides have been remanence in telling the other exactly what it means to be a mate. On our side, we have to take into account of your magic—not just feeding you but making sure we are not giving you too much; otherwise, we hurt you and that cannot happen again."
Klaus came in at this point. "And I won't be having that suicidal shit again. You will not be leaving us anytime soon. I got the wolf pregnant by accident, but that changes nothing between you and I. That child will be mine as much as yours when it is born. We will deal with Hayley as her actions and time permit. As for Elijah's infatuation with her, it hasn't progressed that much and will fade once our bonds are solidified."
Morrigan sighed, "That doesn't mean that it isn't there. I can't fault him for caring for someone nor you for having sex with someone. But feelings like that just don't fade. I know that all too well. I may not have felt for my anchors, my past lovers, as I will and already do for the three of you, but those feelings won't leave me. I still have nightmares because if failed them, and there is one that is still in my life—"
She should have known where they would take that last sentence. Elijah was the most composed, but she could feel through their fledgling bond that he was not happy with another man in her life, a former lover at that.
Kol wasn't happy either, but he was interested in keeping the peace which is why he didn't say anything about that call his mate got from said former lover not even a few days ago. He had a feeling that it was going to pop up again (who in their right mind would give up any chance to be with his little witch?), but he would wait until it did. Right now, their focus was on making all of them come to terms and understand just what it was to be mated.
Despite the Originals knowing they had a mate, it was something altogether different now that she was here. Experience and knowledge sometimes were separate things.
Klaus tried not to suffocate her as he made quite clear his feelings on the matter with how close he held her body to him.
This possessiveness was strange for Morrigan. Besides the Ronald issue before, none of her lovers had ever been possessive of her before like this. Sure they cared about her and never really wanted to share her, but they never did anything to discourage other males from getting close to her. Sure, they stayed by her side and let everyone know they were friends, but there was no claiming or getting angry about other men in her life or even defying them. She was the dominate one before, she was the one who made the decisions, she was the one who did everything and they followed, but Morrigan knew with these three, with this family, it was going to be different.
Her entire life had been reactions to others, but she had been the one doing it all. Now, it was slowly coming to her that she wasn't alone. Morrigan wasn't really sure how to take that in, and before she could process it, her Hybrid rubbed her leg softly.
"What is it, love?" his voice matched his touch.
She was the one who always added on the endearment luv when she addressed others, but again, hitting her hard, was the fact that Niklaus was using love, basically calling her his mate.
Yes, very different.
"I'm realizing that there is more to having a mate than a lover/anchor like I had before. Here, I am not alone. All of you come with strings attached, strings like a family and a solid support system. It also comes with this intense possessiveness that feels right in certain situations. I can be free to just sit back and not..." her voice trailed off as she started to really see the differences between having a mate and a lover.
All these years, because of her position in society, her role in the war, and how advance she was, she was always on the outside from everyone.
Now, she could see herself as an equal to these men who had lived such a long time...
"You don't even realize what you asked for last night, do you, little mate?" Elijah asked as he took connected the dots and followed her thoughts. "We are your equals just as you are ours. Being a mate means that you work together. No doubt there will be times where we cannot control our dominance or the situation calls for us to do so, but there will probably also be the opposite. Before dinner for example where you tried to kill Hayley."
That was a can of worms that Elijah knew he had to open, but it was going to be a difficult conversation.
Morrigan's eyes darkened as that situation came back to her. It hurt her knowing that another woman was providing something that she couldn't give, but it also made her so angry that there was another woman right in between her mates. She accepted that Elijah cared for the wolf not just because of the baby she carried, but she didn't like it at all.
"After the baby is born, I might just kill her," the witch warned, and two of her mates didn't really see a problem with that.
Elijah, though, only sighed. "And what will you tell the baby when he or she grows up? You felt threatened by the woman who gave birth to him or her and murdered her?"
Morrigan growled at him. "What do you expect me to do? That baby will not leave us, ever, so does that mean that the bitch will be in our lives as the child grows up? I will not have her around any of you. You may be willing to give her up, but do you think she will give up whatever the two of you could have, Elijah? She'll probably use that baby—"
Niklaus could feel how worked up she was, and the more she went on, the more she started to get unstable. Kol was watching her closely, and his body language told Klaus that he was about to do something to calm her down.
The Hybrid beat him to it; he bit his claiming mark on the right of his mate's neck.
Without a second of hesitance, Morrigan tilted her neck to the left and submitted to her mate. She whimpered as the overwhelming emotions left her, and she settled into Niklaus' arms, calm again.
Elijah looked old and tired as he took in his mate's words. He wasn't naïve enough to think that Hayley wouldn't do something like that, though he wished she wouldn't. Over the course of his thousand years, he had seen mothers and women do many things in an attempt to keep or protect a child or lover. It would be something they would have to wait and see on.
Elijah was grateful for his brother calming down their mate, but the matter was still open. "We just need to take each situation as they come, and deal with them how we see fit. Now, let's talk more about your condition and magic..."
~MAD~
It took no less than a week, maybe two, for Morrigan to get the wards up. By then, her and her mates had been taking things a bit slower, but that didn't mean they hadn't stopped educating their mate in the art of fucking and love-making. After she claimed them, absorbing magic and feeding off them had been much easier, but she also had to make sure that her body wouldn't take too much.
As the months passed, that part became much easier. They didn't have to worry about overwhelming in that regard. Before the first month was done, Morrigan had gone with Niklaus and Elijah to fix things with Marcel.
Which, of course, lead to her finding about Davina. Morrigan immediately assessed the situation, finding about the Harvest, and making sure that shit went down right. It took a while before she could convince the young witch that the best option for her was to complete the ritual. Davina did end up listening to Morrigan, but that was after three months of helping the young girl control her magic. Davina then stared to see the red-head witch as a mentor of sorts.
With her help with Davina and the witches, Marcel had decided to trust Morrigan—this may have been more on the fact that Elijah and Klaus were still trying to take over his kingdom and they had her by their side. Probably more to do with the fact that the witch had the Originals, every one of them, wrapped around her fingers.
Marcel introduced the concept of the Fraction to her, and, with her insane need to keep things balanced, the first thing she did was restore the werewolves—that had been a bitch of a spell to do. Since it was out of her area, Davina and one of the other witches had to help her. But once it was released, shit started breaking loose with Hayley.
Her loyalty toward the Mikaelsons started getting strained like Morrigan had predicted. The wolves wanted her away from the vampires, but because of that baby in her belly, a tug of war started. Hayley never stopped, despite the warnings from Rebekah and Jeremy, trying to get Elijah to be with her. (There was a trying time when a wolf kidnapped her). She did in subtle ways when Morrigan wasn't around, and Elijah really didn't want to start shit with his mate, so he kept his mouth shut but constantly ignoring and turning down the pregnant wolf.
After the wolves were sorted out, Morrigan proposed a fraction that had not just humans on it, but the three supernaturals on it as well. Davina took over the witch side, Marcel would lead the vampires, and the Alpha took over for the wolves. The Originals were in charge, of course, with her three mates and Rebekah being the go between them. Jeremy wasn't really thrilled when he learned of how Marcel was still in love with his mate, and she was in charge of the vampires, but he trusted her. Niklaus had the wolves, and Elijah was with the humans. Kol and Morrigan alternated with the witches depending on what they needed.
She had not been happy when she found out that Davina quickly fell in love with Kol. That was not cool at all. Besides the flirting he did with everyone, especially to get a rise out of Morrigan, he never crossed any lines. None of her mates did. While they were curious to see what damage she would do, they did just repair New Orleans and the threat of the witch against the Mikaelson baby was still out there.
It was during their setting up with the faction that Morrigan finally realized why she needed three mates. She needed three to keep her balanced. She was a Hybrid witch (of Core and the kind Kol had once been) as well as a dragon. That shit was really a lot. Not to mention that she was Death's Chosen/Head Witch (that shit with his Coven was a lot to swallow) and she was Lady of Magic to top it off. Yeah, she needed powerful mates to counterbalance her.
And it was not helping that every time she turned around, there was a woman who was going after them. The human Cami was banished from New Orleans as soon as Morrigan discovered her, and Klaus had felt relief at that.
With Morrigan's sense of balance, even countered by her need for mischief and chaos, there was finally peace for the first time since the Mikaelsons were chased out of their home. As the months passed, the peace was great, but it was just the calm before the storm.
Things started to get really stressful when the baby Hybrid was coming into the world. The witch tried her best to ignore the wolf, she knew how territorial wolves were, but it was started to get out of hand.
When Morrigan delivered the baby, the wolf seemed to be dying, so she got the baby out of there and let her mates deal with the she-wolf. The witch quickly took the baby, who it should not have surprised her that the girl child was a witch, to the room they had set up for her and cleaned her up, checking her over and making sure that everything was okay.
When the little baby was cleaned up, clothed and wrapped, Morrigan went straight to Niklaus and handed him his heir. The red-head had no eyes or ears for anything except that baby and her mate. This was the first child that had ever called to her. Not even Regulus struck such cords deep inside of her.
"What will you name her, my mate?" Morrigan asked softly as her mate angled his body, unconsciously, toward his mate, putting the child in between them almost.
"Hope," was the short and gentle reply as all who heard knew exactly why the child was named so. This child was a bridge between them all, just like Morrigan was. Combined with Niklaus' mate, this child would keep them all together, finally making them a family.
Always and Forever and their future rested on the two females.
~MAD~
A few weeks passed after the birth of Hope, and the storm was getting closer.
Hayley survived the birth and had been waylaid in bed the whole time. Kol, Jeremy, and Morrigan were the only ones in the house that did not see the female wolf once she had given birth to Hope. Morrigan did call in a witch or two to see to Hayley's healing, but she stayed clear of the other woman. Niklaus was the only one who resisted bringing the child to her birth's mother whenever she was asked for—mostly he had convenient excuses about not disturbing the child just because of the mother's selfish desires. A few arguments had been had about that, but Elijah had always soothed them. He and Rebekah would bring the girl when they thought it was safe for Hayley to handle her, but as the weeks went on, the female wolf was seeing less and less of her daughter, and she was not happy.
Especially when a few of her pack would visit and started filling her mind with more dissent. The Crescent Moon pack was not happy that one of their own, especially one with such high standing (Hayley was supposed to be an Alpha) was locked in the house, and they wanted that baby. Whether for leverage or not, it didn't matter because they were fucking with the Mikaelsons.
Morrigan stayed cleared because she didn't want to start any fights, but she was adamant that if the wolves wanted to come into the house or on the property, they had to do meet with Hayley outside because she didn't trust them—at least anyone but Jackson. The witch trusted that he would put his pack first and not fuck with them just to get Hayley or the baby. He knew the Originals would kill every one of those wolves if need be to keep that child.
It was almost a month after Hope came into the world that shit started breaking loose. Morrigan finally had her confrontation with Hayley.
The red-head was in the kitchen with Kol and Jeremy while the others were at a meeting with the Fraction (an Original was supposed to be in the house at all times) feeding Hope when Hayley came down the opposite stairwell.
The wolf almost blew a gasket when she heard Morrigan interact with her daughter.
"That's my girl," Morrigan cooed as she tilted the bottle. She had been sitting at the table with Kol beside her making weird faces at the girl. "Stop messing with her, you lump! Hope is trying to eat, don't make her throw it up. Idiot," she muttered before cooing at the baby again.
Jeremy, who was fixing the adults something to eat, said, "You know for a woman who can't have children, you're doing a pretty damn good job of taking care of the baby."
Kol rolled his eyes at his mate and Jeremy, quite thankful that with the Hope's birth and the connection the two had that Morrigan had gotten past that she couldn't provide children for her mates. But there was something that he wanted to know about. The connection his mate had with the baby made him quite curious. "You can feel her, can't you, darling?"
Morrigan nodded, "We're connected. I wasn't sure if Hope would bond with me, but she's a smart girl. She doesn't just have the instincts of the wolf and vampire in her, but also of a witch. The witch in her recognizes me more than just the mate of her father like the other two. Hope may not understand it perfectly, but she will see me as her mother just as Regulus did."
That was when Hayley had enough. She entered the kitchen, all eyes turned to her as she glared daggers at the witch at the table. "Well, she isn't your daughter, she's mine. So hand her over."
Morrigan's eyes steeled as the wolf came closer. "I don't think so. Not in that mindset. You are pissed off with me, and I don't trust you with the baby when that is at the forefront of your mind."
Hayley snorted as she stopped at least three feet from Morrigan. "Like you care. You just barged in here and are trying to take everything! I don't understand why Klaus or even Elijah lets you control everything, but it is going to stop. A few of my pack will be coming over later today and you will let them inside the house."
Jeremy snorted as he started to clean up. "Like that'll happen."
Kol actually stood up at the wolf's demand causing her to put distance between them. "I have no problem killing you, just so you know. My mate has more of a place here than you do, so watch it. If she doesn't trust someone, then they do not get inside the house."
Hayley knew that Elijah wouldn't let them kill her, so with that boosting her, she stood straight and glared right back at the Original. "Then I'm taking my daughter outside to see them."
The instance she said that, the temperature dropped to an almost freezing temperature in the kitchen. Hayley knew it was the witch especially when she turned to her and the woman's eyes were black with a center of ice-blue.
"You'll what?" was the just as cold reply as Morrigan put the bottle down and held the baby closer to her. "If I don't trust them in the house, they sure as hell aren't getting near this child. You have a problem, go bitch to Elijah, but he will tell you the same."
Kol chuckled darkly, "Yes, run to Elijah like you always do and see if anything changes. You don't seem to get the concept of a mate, do you? We will also choose her over you. Niklaus sees Morrigan more as the mother of his child than he does you."
"But I'm her mother," Hayley shivered and stammered out as she backed further to the end of the kitchen near the staircase.
Morrigan shrugged slightly, making sure not to disturb the child in her arms. "I barely had my birth-mother for fifteen months before she was murdered, and considering all the shit Elijah and Niklaus went through with their birth mother..." the witch trailed off, clearly making her point when Hayley went whiter than a sheet.
Hayley was gone not even a few seconds later, rushing up the stairs to her room to get her phone so she could be reassured by Elijah that everything was okay, and Morrigan would be pushed out of the house enough. One of her usual conversations with the Original, but it never turned out that way. Instead, he always preached to her about patience, compromise, and corporation. Besides, Morrigan had never really done anything to the wolf, so she couldn't even spin that angle. But now, both Kol and Morrigan had threatened her.
Kol listened intently and told his two companions what was the wolf was doing. "She's telling on us to Elijah and demanding her baby."
Morrigan just sighed before handing the baby to Kol as Jeremy came closer with the lunch he had made for them. "Doesn't she realize that no matter how many times she makes that call or conversation it isn't going to change anything? Elijah is running out of patience...and there we go," Morrigan looked so tired at that moment. It seemed Elijah had had enough and told Hayley to stop acting like a child. Morrigan has only ever protected that child, delivered her too when both would have died without her, and... Morrigan stopped listening at that point.
"What are we going to do about her?" Jeremy asked before he took a bite out of his sandwich. "Hayley just threatened to take Hope. We haven't exactly tried to keep them apart, but she's getting more and more out of control."
Kol didn't say anything as he burped his niece, and Morrigan didn't have a chance to reply before her phone rang.
Niklaus.
Morrigan didn't give her mate time to say anything. "I have done everything you lot have told me to. I have ignored her and barely even seen her. I haven't kept her daughter from her. The only thing I've done is keep her pack away because I don't trust them. I even sent for some Healer witches after she gave birth to keep her alive, I delivered her baby—what more can I do?"
Her mate said nothing for a few moments, only sighing. She could hear in his voice when he replied just how tired of all this Hayley and his mate drama he was. Taking care of a baby, along with running the Fraction, and this drama? Was way to fucking more.
"Besides let her run away with Elijah and the baby? Nothing. There is someone I need you to meet. Hayley is going to be taking a break with a few girls from her pack, to cool down, and we're bringing a witch over. It's time," her mate said, his voice hard, before he hung up.
Morrigan closed her eyes and controlled her breathing. It seemed the storm was here. When she opened them, her eyes were the death green again. She hadn't felt like this since the night before Hogwarts almost fell.
War was upon them, and she be damned if she let this child, a child she found that was just as much hers as was Regulus, get hurt because some stupid bitch wanted to be immortal.
Morrigan looked at both her mate and her best friend. Kol had heard and his body stiffened as he just realized what this meant. "It's time. The reason why Kol brought me here. Jeremy, you need to be extra careful as you are the only human here."
Jeremy nodded, quite serious. "Maybe it's time we started talking about changing me? On a different note, has anyone called and updated Damon?"
~MAD~
Hours later, when Hayley was gone, Morrigan had given the baby to Jeremy when she felt her two mates, her sister, and the unknown witch approach.
With Kol by her side, she opened the door. There was an extra blonde with her new family. Her hair was passed her shoulders, and she had a somewhat cold aura about her, but Morrigan saw past that. There was pain in her, and a desperate deep need to do something.
That was something Morrigan had been used to sensing during the war.
The blonde witch raised an eyebrow at the red-head in front of her, "Mind keeping those eyes to yourself?"
Morrigan titled her head and looked unimpressed. "Those eyes keep this family safe. You're desperate, and I've seen what that does to people. If you hurt this family or that child, I will give you a fate worse than death."
The woman faltered for a second as she too sensed something in the woman in front of her. She had been alive for quite a long time, even if it was in short bursts, and she knew death when she saw it. There was something in the short red-head's magic that reeked of death.
"I'm here," the blonde woman said, "to protect this family. I lost my child to that bitch, and I don't want to let it happen again. Help me take her down. As a witch of death, you can't let her get Niklaus' baby."
Morrigan took one last look at the woman and nodded. "I will do whatever it takes to save that girl, even if I have to protect her from her own mother. It wouldn't be the first time I've been in a situation where the threat is blood."
No one spoke as Morrigan and Kol moved so the others could come in. Niklaus led the group to his soundproof study on the second floor. In Niklaus' study, the desk was angled where his back, if he sat behind the desk, was cornered in the top left of the room. There were two chairs in front of the desk, but there was a couch to the right of the door not ten feet away from the other chairs.
Rebekah went to Jeremy to keep an eye on baby Hope and her mate, while Elijah commandeered his mate and sat in the middle of the couch with his brothers on either side of him. The woman turned one of the chairs, that were in front of the desk, toward the others.
As soon as she was seated, the blonde witch started telling her tale.
"My name is Freya Mikaelson, and I am here to stop our aunt, Delilah, from achieving immorality. From what I've been told, mother and father thought I was dead and didn't know my aunt had taken me. But, from the little I've gotten from my brothers, I'm not sure if that is the truth anymore. For the past thousand years, my aunt has taught me magic, but she has been channeling me. She is powerful, and I'm not sure if you can match her. Especially after she sacrificed my son, my first born, as part of her immortality spell. Because of me, and that channeling, she has been able to sleep a century and be awake for a year. I have done the same these past thousand years."
Morrigan only thought for a moment as her mind connected the dots between Freya's words. "So, Delilah needs firstborns of her family. Her sister's daughter to channel, the child of that daughter, a son, to sacrifice, and now her nephew's first born daughter. Girl, boy, girl. I think she plans to do more than just kill Hope. She'll probably kill you too, Freya."
Freya hesitated before she nodded. "I had suspicions, but Niklaus' child is the one we need to focus on. But Delilah isn't the only threat we have. My aunt has been here in New Orleans since the baby was born, and she has been quite busy. Your Fraction has stalled her and put up obstacles, but she is getting passed them with a few witches who are afraid of that child as well as the wolves—Delilah has them thinking in the mindset if they can't have her..."
The male Originals finally reacted and growled at this news. "They aren't coming near my child," Niklaus glared at his sister, but she didn't back down.
"That is why I'm here! I know our aunt, and I can help. But you need to watch that she-wolf, the mother. The wolves have been trying to convince her to help them. She's also been trying to assure them that Elijah will be on their side when the time comes."
Morrigan only responded with a sigh. "I am getting really tired of that bitch. If she goes after Hope and tries to help Delilah, I will kill her. She isn't going to take my child or my mate."
