Hey guys thank you so much for your reviews and your follows, always appreciated ❤️.
so Chapter 12 Let's go.
Five months and a few days since Caroline's arrival..
"Relax sweetheart" Nik said.
"Relax? Relax? Don't tell me to relax. I should be worried, why aren't you worried?" Caroline was pacing back and forth in the house, waiting for Esther and Mikael to show up, Nik and her were going to tell them he wished to court her and Caroline was beyond nervous.
"Because you are worried enough for the both of us" Nik teases and she shoots him a glare "Sweetheart, look at me".
He took her hands in his and she looked up at him "I love you, Mikael and Esther will not change that".
"I know I know but what if they won't allow us.. I mean Mikael might forbid you to-"
"Mikael will not forbid me to be with you, I will court you if he likes it or not.. Mikael's greatest weakness is his pride, he will wish to save his face in front of the villagers so he will not oppose".
"But what if-" he silences with a kiss to her lips.
"It will be alright, my love" he says and she nods, she was still nervous when he left her hands and then Mikael entered closely followed by Esther.
"Father, mother" he nodded at them both and they nodded.
"Niklaus, my boy, how was your day?" Esther asked.
"It was plain mother.. but I do wish to speak to you and father of a matter of utmost importance" Nik said grabbing Mikael's attention and earning a questioning look from Esther.
"Well speak boy, what is it?" Mikael asked bitterly.
"Mother, Father, I am at the rightful age for marriage and I would like to inform you I have found the one I wish to court" Nik said.
"You and that Petrova girl? Well I must say you deserve each other both-" Mikael started but was cut off.
"No, father. I am to court Caroline" as soon as Nik uttered those words both of Mikael and Esther's jaws dropped.
"I do hope this is a joke, boy" Mikael hissed.
"No joke, father" Nik said.
"You are nothing but a boy, you do not have what it takes to be a husband, even less a father, more so a husband worthy of Caroline. You live in my house, under my roof, you part take a share of my food and with no income of your own" Mikael hissed.
"The house is standing" this got him three pairs of wide eyes "The food is no issue, there is the hunting and as for my income I am to start looking for work in the morrow" Nik said.
"You are not ready for marriage" Mikael said "How are you to defend your family when you are weak so weak?"
"I am ready" Nik said.
"Prove it, boy" Mikael said as he took two swords, handed him one and walked outside with the three following, once they were outside Caroline noticed Elijah and Kol were standing, talking with separate groups of villagers.
Once they were outside everyone turned their attention to Mikael and Nik, Caroline was standing next to Esther at the entrance of the house, she found Kol and Elijah walking towards them, with Kol on her left and Elijah on Esther's right.
"Let us see how ready are you, boy" Mikael hissed as he stood in position and Nik flashed her a confident smirk before standing in position as well.
"What is going on?" Caroline whispered.
"They are to fight, a man must be able to defend his family and stand tall in front of an attack, if Nik is to win then he is ready" Kol said, all the humor and sarcasam that usually is dripping from his voice is nowhere to be found.
"But-" Caroline went to protest but Kol cut her off "It will be alright Caroline, Nik is ready".
Mikael went for the first swing as he flashed his sword from the right but Nik blocked the attack and went to hit Mikael from the left but Mikael dodged. Nik blocked the attacks to his right and left and swung his sword to Mikael's legs.
Rebekah and Henrik ran towards Caroline's sides to watch the fight and with every swing of a sword Caroline could feel her heart sinking deep into her chest.
Nik aimed towards Mikael's chest but Mikael blocked the attack and went to try and disarm Nik from the sword but his attempt came with failure, Nik struck to Mikael's right and Mikael blocked it and went to Nik's right.
Nik went to Mikael's legs and missed, Mikael swung his sword in front of his, Nik jumped back so that the sword missed him but the sword cut the leather necklace that was given to him by his mother.
Caroline felt Esther stiffen as the necklace dropped to the ground and she wondered what was that about.
"You will not embarrass me, boy" Mikael said, he put his leg behind Nik's legs and pushed him so that he fell.
"No" Caroline went to run to him but she felt two strong hands hold her arms at the inside elbow, Kol's hands, Esther hovered her hand in front of Caroline's stomach, Rebekah held her by the waist and Henrik stood blocking her way, Elijah moved forward and put his hands on each of her shoulders to calm her struggles.
"Calm down, Caroline, you'll only make this worse" Kol said, she looked and saw that Nik blocked Mikael's attack with his sword quickly before Mikael could swing his, he pushed Mikael off him with a kick and jumped up.
He struck Mikael from both sides with force, Mikael barely was able to block and it became harder for him to keep up to his son, Nik put his hand on Mikael's arm and gave him a push so that he turned 360, as he did that Nik circled himself and dropped to one knee with a swing of his sword, he hit the belt Mikael had around his waist.
Caroline calmed as she saw Nik winning but Esther was still tensed next to her. Nik jumped up and struck his sword towards Mikael and Mikael's sword dropped, Nik pushed him, making him stumble and fall and with the last swing of his sword he pushed it to Mikael's left shoulder.
Once the sword pierced Mikael's skin he bit his lip to hide the screams of pain for he will not be seen as weak in front of the villagers, Nik stood up with a victory grin and dropped his sword to the ground.
"Now I believe I have won father" Nik said "Not as weak as you thought".
Nik picked up his necklace from the ground with a smirk and then felt a small pair of hands push him with force as blonde curly hair swung in his face, he took Caroline by the waist and spun her around in his arms.
"You did it" Caroline whispered in his ear.
"Should I find your shocked expression and lack of faith insulting?" he teased as he brought her for a kiss. When they pulled away, he felt his siblings push him into a big family hug and he grumbled for their interruption while they just laughed.
His sister hugged his waist from one side and Henrik took his waist from the other side, Kol from the side and Elijah patted his back to show he is here but with no space to hug him.
Finn walked in then "What is with all the cheering?"
"Nik defeated father and can court Caroline" Rebekah said.
"You defeated him?" Finn asked.
"Why don't look so surprised brother, you'll hurt my feelings" Nik teased and Finn shock his head laughing.
"I believe congratulation are in order" Finn said.
"It appears so brother" Nik said smiling at Caroline.
"Come brother, let us go inside to celebrate" Kol said.
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"Come along sweetheart" Nik said.
"Where are we going?" Caroline asked chuckling as they made their way.
"You'll know when we get there" Nik answered, they walked a few more feet before he stopped in front of a house.
"What are we doing here?" Caroline asked.
"You tell me" he said as they stood in front of its door. Caroline gave him a questioning look an he gestured to the door, Caroline hesitantly opened the door and slowly walked inside when no one answered.
He walked in after her and waited to see her reaction.
"Is this- Is this our house?" Caroline asked knowingly and he nodded.
"I did not make any furniture yet, I assumed you would like the honor of designing our home" Nik said and Caroline looked around, the house had two open rooms, she speculated one was for the kitchen and one for the living room, and five doors that she assumed each led to a bedroom.
"I love it" Caroline said.
"Sweetheart you do not have to pretend-"
"I am not pretending to like it, I love it" Caroline cut him off and walked towards him wrapping her arms behind his neck and bringing him in for a kiss.
"This is our home" she said as they pulled away "How can I not love it?"
"Why didn't I know about the house?" Caroline asked.
"I was not planning on showing it to you yet, but since I have already stated in front of you the house is ready I figured might as well show it to you" Nik said.
"I love you" Caroline said.
"I love you, too, sweetheart" Nik said.
"Come on, let's go back or your brothers will start making assumptions.. I am sure Kol has a teasing notepad ready with a minimum of 500 jokes" Caroline said and Nik chuckled, she was right, Kol probably would knock on their door the day after their wedding with his witticism, that thought made him grumble already, Kol knows no boundaries and he wouldn't put it past him.
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"Esther?" Caroline called, Esther didn't look at her, she kept looking at the herbs she was mixing in a bowl.
"My son seems to fancy you very much Caroline" Esther said ignoring what Caroline came to her for.
"Uuumm yeah and I do too, that's actually why I came to you, I need to ask a favor of you" Caroline said nervously.
"And what is that favor?" Esther asked.
"A spell" Caroline said and Esther looked at her for the first time that evening.
"I am listening" Esther said.
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"It is done" Esther said and Caroline nodded.
"Thank you Esther" Caroline said.
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"Niklaus, good morning" one of the men approached him and Caroline "And good morning to you too, Lady Caroline".
"Good morning, Karlos" Nik said and Caroline nodded with a smile.
"I just wanted to congratulate you, I have hear the news you have courted a woman" Karlos said and the pair smiled at him.
"Thank you Karlos, I am a very lucky man" Nik said with a grin at his face.
"You and Tatia must be really happy then" Karlos said and the smile fell from both their faces and was replaced with expressions of shock.
"I- I am-" Nik was lost of words.
"I had to admit when people admitted to spotting the two of you together I feared the worse but hearing of your courtship is very pleasant" Karlos said, Caroline shook her head and walked away, more like ran away, but she couldn't help it, tears were threatening to stain her cheeks and she couldn't look at him.
She looked back for a moment and saw Nik standing with Tatia and Karlos, her heart broke and the pieces fell to the ground across the path she made as she ran, she found herself in the forest with Nik's voice following, calling for her. After she made sure to put some distance between her and him, she laid her back against a tree and crumbled to the ground.
She couldn't stop the tears now, she cried in the silence of the forest her eyes out, it hurt too much to hear it, when she realized she hadn't heard his side of the story she turned around but saw him with that Petrova bitch and as if the pieces of her broken heart broke into pieces of their own, it hurt because she loved him, because it wasn't just a crush like all the other times and it hurt because she thought he was different, that he loved her.
"Caroline sweetheart answer me so I know where you are" she heard Nik's voice call and she scuffed yeah right, I am trying to get away from you. But his voice was far, he wasn't near her so she stayed in her place.. or so she thought.
"Caroline" he spotted her and rushed to her side "Caroline, please listen to me, give me a chance to-"
"To what? To explain yourself?"
"My love please-"
"No, do not call me that, you don't get to call me that, in fact don't even call me anything and why don't you stop talking to me all together" she was yelling now.
"Caroline, would you listen to me? Let me talk so I can-"
"I don't want to hear it, haven't you done enough?"
"Caroline, stop accusing and listen to me"
"Don't tell me what to do, I'll talk whenever I want and listen to whomever I want, you can't tell me what to do"
"Caroline, I may be a patient man but I draw a line at accusing me for something I didn't do"
"Well consider me crossing that line" Caroline said.
"Why are you not listening to me? I am trying to explain to you that it is not true"
"So what? Did the villagers lie? Who would tell Karlos that you courted Tatia?"
"I don't know, bloody hell Caroline, you should have more faith in me"
"Wow, haven't heard that one before, Caroline relax she is just a friend, Caroline it was all a misunderstanding, Caroline I thought she was you, I mean seriously? What hurts most is I thought you were different, I thought I was the one but no I am never the one I will never be the one"
"You are the one for me, love"
"Don't! seriously"
"Caroline I was not with Tatia, I have not seen her since she apologized to you" This was the longest sentence she let him speak in this conversation so he continued "She is off with Elijah, he wishes to court her but is waiting for the appropriate moment, I have not seen her since that day I swear to you Caroline, I am not lying".
She kept quiet, she didn't know what to say, she wanted to believe him, she wanted to but she has been hurt before, she has been hurt too much.
"Caroline I would never do that to you" Nik said "Do you really think that low of me?"
"Nik! Caroline!" they turned and saw Rebekah running to their position.
"It is not the time Rebekah" Nik hissed.
"But Nik I saw father with Karlos and Tatia, he was handing them money" Rebekah said and Nik growled, it all clicked, Mikael would not take his loss so he would put this gin to separate him and Caroline, he looked over at Caroline and saw that she came to the same conclusion.
"I will kill him" Nik hissed.
"Not if I get to him first" Caroline said and he looked over at her with shock at her hostility but couldn't hide his amused smirk.
"I think he will try to part you two again if he knew of his failure" Rebekah said.
"I know, so we will have to make sure we get it through his thick skull that he cannot part us" Nik said.
Rebekah walked away first to give them privacy to speak.
"I'm sorry" Caroline whispered "I am sorry I doubted you and accused you, I should have listened to you and trusted you more".
"I will not say that it did not hurt, your distrust and the look in your eyes, because it did, but apology accepted, sweetheart" Nik said.
"I am sorry, I promise to never doubt you again" Caroline said, he put an arm around her shoulders to bring her closer and kissed her forehead.
When they walked in home together, Mikael gave them a questioning look but refrained from speaking fully knowing his plan failed. They heard him curse under his breath and Nik smirked for he knew they had angered him.
"Psst, I have a plan" Caroline whispered.
"For what?" Nik whisper-asked.
"Your father, you know "The search". I have a plan, 100% will work" Caroline whispered.
"Well I would love to hear it" Nik said.
"Okay here is what we do.." Caroline started.
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"Sweetheart are you out of your mind?" Nik whisper asked but still followed her, the two were sneaking around in the wolf village.
"No I am not, this will work" Caroline whispered.
"What are we even doing?" Nik whisper asked.
"Look I noticed a strange custom everyone has is writing the names of the villagers on the walls of a cave or something, carving their names so that their memory would last" Caroline started and then they reached a wall of names, hundreds or maybe thousands of names.
"And you believe we are to find my name here?" Nik asked.
"Yes, now come on, I don't know how your years are written or how to make the right math, you will need to help with that" Caroline said.
"But what if my name is not written?" Nik asked.
"It's worth a try, come on, Nik" Caroline said.
After some time, they did the math and were closing in on his name.
"So your name should be right about.. here" Caroline traced the names and her fingers landed on a column with many names.
"Caroline?" she turned her head as she heard his concerned voice.
"What is it?" Caroline asked.
"My name, I found it" Nik said and Caroline rushed to his side, he was right his name was here Niklaus, it was written clearly.
"What are you two doing here?"
They turned to face the voice owner with shock and scared expressions on their faces, they were met with a black haired brown eyed man who was looking at them with threatening eyes. Nik got in front of Caroline to shield her from the stranger.
"We aren't looking for trouble, we were just-"
"Then you shouldn't have come here" he growled.
"We are leaving, mate, there is no need for this to get messy" Nik said, his voice low and calm but held much threat.
"I have seen you before.. that night you came to our village asking for directions, hhhmm is Alpha let you be the last time I am sure he will not this time.. come along or I will have to drag you" he said.
Caroline felt Nik's anger rising so she put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, he looked back at her and calmed himself.
"Lead the way, mate" Nik said, the two followed the man to a house, they could see men stiffen and rise from their seats to look at them and follow to what they assumed was the Alpha's house. The man knocked three times before the door opened revealing the Alpha.
"What is it?" Alpha asked and then noticed the two strangers and his eyes narrowed.
"I have found those two in our caves, they were sneaking around, I believe a punishment is in order" he said.
"Thank you Beta, you may go" Alpha said then opened his door further and looked at the strangers "Come in".
The two hesitantly walked in, fully realizing the wide eyes they were receiving from the pack for the hospitality of the Alpha towards them.
"Please sit" Caroline could notice from the man's tone that he was trying to control his anger and so she didn't want to further irritate him, she sat down and gestured for Nik to sit but he didn't budge.
"I thought I was clear the last we spoke that you should not have returned" Alpha said.
"You were not clear enough" Nik said, sarcasam dripping from his accented voice.
"Then I will be clearer this time: Leave, do not return" Alpha said his anger rising.
"And if we choose not to?" Nik challenged.
"Both of you, calm down, anger and aggression will not solve anything, let's talk like civilized people" Caroline said calmly.
"Know your place, woman" Alpha growled.
"You will not speak to her in such a tone" Nik said at the same time Caroline said "Don't speak to me with that tone".
"Women should know their place, they should keep quiet and let men sort their differences out" Alpha said, Nik went to say something but Caroline beat him to it.
"Well I am not from around here, I come from a place where men and woman are one in the same, I was taught equality and to never take shit from anyone, I will not leave what I was taught so I can "Adjust" to your crappy life style and I will certainly not stand here and let you push me around, talking to me like that" Caroline said.
Alpha turned to her and controlled himself and then looked back at Nik "Quite the spitfire you have found, Niklaus".
Both their eyes widened and Nik was the first to ask "How do you know who I am?"
"Because I know you, my boy" once Alpha uttered those words out, Nik turned around an started pacing, he reached a wall and started hitting it one, two, three, seven times.
"Are you saying-?" Caroline asked and Alpha nodded.
"How? And why did you not speak sooner?" Nik growled "You know I have let myself believe that my father did not know of my existence.. otherwise, he would never leave me to suffer under Mikael".
"Esther forbade me from seeing you, so I waited, knowing that one day you would trigger your curse and you would need your real father" Alpha spoke "Esther was powerful witch, she made it so I could not approach you with my information but the spell she used said nothing of you seeking me out".
"Why should I believe a word you say?" Nik asked, Caroline could see his eyes were sparkling of tears he would not let fall.
"Then what did you expect to find, my boy? There was nothing I could do but wait so I waited.. but since you are here and without your mother I suppose you have found out on your own?" Nik nodded "Have you triggered the curse? Did you kill someone?"
"No, I was- I was in the woods at a full moon when I ran to some wolves" Nik said "They did not attack me so I figured.."
"Your assumptions were correct, my boy" Alpha said "I am Ansel, your father".
Nik opened the door and left with Caroline calling after him.
"Nik wait" he stopped and turned to look at her.
"I can't go back Caroline, I thought I could- I don't know, I did not know what to expect when I came here, when I find him" Nik said "He knew Caroline, he knew I was alive, he knew of his son and he left me in Mikael's care".
"But Nik what if he is right? What if Esther spelled him so that he couldn't seek you out.. what if he was telling the truth?" Caroline said softly.
"What if it is a lie?"
"He has no reason to lie, Nik, why would he write your name on the wall? Why would he bother telling you all that stuff? Why would he bother if it wasn't the truth?" Caroline reasoned "I know it hurts and I couldn't even pretend to understand your feelings right now-"
"Betrayed and enraged would be really close"
"-But he is here, he is here, we found him, so why not just talk to him, please, let's go back inside" Caroline spoke and he sighed, he nodded hesitantly and the two walked back inside.
"I know you are enraged, my boy, but you have to believe it is the truth I speak" Ansel said.
"I- believe you" that wasn't exactly true but he would give it a try.
"Good. I believe you might have some questions?" Ansel said "Please sit, my wife will make something to eat".
"I must say I am a bit surprised you have not trigger the curse yet, the wolf side is very powerful and would often try to.. motivate you to make your first kill, even more so an Alpha" Ansel said.
"I do not know why, but I came close to killing Mikael the last time we fought" Nik admitted "We were sword fighting and my necklace broke and I just got so angry-"
"A necklace? What necklace?" Ansel asked, Nik took the necklace out from under his shirt "Esther gave it to me when I was young, she said if I ever need her I will squeeze the bird and she would come".
"That necklace" he chuckled "Oh Esther your sense of irony".
"What is it?" Nik asked.
"That necklace, my mother gave me a similar one when I first triggered the curse as a gift for finding my true self.. I believe she gave you that necklace to control your wolf side from showing and thus hiding her indiscretion.. to hide your true self".
"Do you mean.. she made me weak?" Nik asked.
"I believe that is the purpose of the necklace" Ansel said.
"All my life I believed I was- Mikael always beat me for being weak and it is all her fault" Nik took the necklace and threw it to the ground "I will not be weak again".
"Nik calm down" Caroline tried "Don't take that necklace out".
"Why should I not? She made me weak" Nik's anger was showing and his voice was rising.
"Because you are angry when you are not wearing it, it controls your anger and you wouldn't want to do something you would regret" Caroline said.
"And why would I feel regret?" Nik challenged.
"Because you could hurt someone you care about" Caroline said.
"She is right, the wolf side is strong, even stronger with you because it has been in.. "storage" for all these years" Ansel said "You could get angry and could not control, it would be too late".
Nik looked away but picked up the necklace nevertheless.
"It is getting dark, you should go home, I apologies I could not answer your questions today but I would rather if you come another day" Ansel said with hope in his eyes and Nik nodded, not revealing a definite answer.
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"Nik?" Caroline whispered, Bekah was asleep, so was everyone else and she, like every other night, was sneaking to Nik's room to talk. There was no answer at his door so she opened it quietly and found him not in his bed but standing, looking away from his window, he seemed to have not seen her.
She walked in further and closed the door behind her, she wrapped her arms around him from behind and he softened.
"What are you thinking?" Caroline asked.
"I am wondering, how would it feel like? To be one of them, run with the wind, be stronger and faster" Nik started.
"Would you like to talk about today?" Caroline asked, he wasn't the most open person, she knew that already, but he needs to know she would be here if he wants to talk.
"No" Nik said and turned to her "I still do not know how I feel of today's finding" he pecked her lips.
"Okay, are you going to see him tomorrow?" Caroline asked.
"We will see in the morrow" Nik said "Now enough with that, onto more delightful subjects".
"Like what?" Caroline asked as she sat on his bed.
"Like the fact that I got myself a job" Nik said with a smirk.
"Really? That's great, what is it?" Caroline asked.
"Well, I am to start working as an architect, design buildings, houses, bridges.. not many understand architecture and its techniques. It pays well, very well and is a job of high standers" Nik said.
"That's great" Caroline captured his lips into a kiss.
"I love you" they both said in unison as they pulled apart and chuckled at their timing.
Hey guys what's up? So thank you for your follows, favs and reviews, always appreciated.
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So Nik found his father and found a job and he is officially courting Caroline, next chap will be have more father son bonding with Ansel and Klaus and of course Klaroline in the winter.. maybe the spring festival unless I decide to make that as a chapter of its own..
You'll know in the next chapter.
This chap was a little short but I'll make it up to you in the next.
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Anyways thank you for your reviews and I'll catch you in the next chap .