Chapter 11

A day later Milla sat with her father watching over him like an avenging angel. The cold fury in her heart hadn't faded, but rather it had grown and taken deep root. The anger didn't force her to change, but it made her want blood. The betrayal she saw in what Jamie had done was the worst part and she vowed to herself that she would kill him for it.

Jamie was a little taller than she was, with long blonde hair he wore in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. In her memories she'd never noted any changes that could be called aging. He had always looked about twenty five. He was kind and funny throughout her entire childhood. Jamie had been a fun loving sort of uncle, much like Damon had always been.

But as she grew into a young woman, the look in Jamie's eyes had changed. Gone was the humor. Instead she found someone she didn't like to be alone with. He stood too close, laughed too loud and held her hand too long. Eyes that had laughed with her before now held a hunger she didn't understand.

When her curse activated, he had stepped up like it was something he'd been waiting for. He told her he wanted her and expected she would obey. As if she had no choice in the matter. The other females in the pack freely choose their own mates, but she, as the daughter of the Alpha would do what she was told.

Not long after she told him to go to hell, the pack decided to shun her. The shunning had prevented her having to tell her father about Jamie and his intentions. At the time, she'd been grateful to avoid a confrontation between her father and his best friend over her. Just the thought had made her shudder with dread.

Her father stirred and opened his eyes, turning to meet her gaze.

"You look furious, little girl." Jack told her with a small smile.

"I'm going to kill him, Dad." Milla was starkly honest. They had each other's back and that couldn't happen with dishonesty. He'd instilled that in her over many years.

Jack smiled and nodded, knowing instantly who she meant. "Not if I can get up out of this bed and do it myself." The problem with that was it might be a week or two.

She stood then, arranging his pillow so he could sit up. Using his hands was still painful for him.

"He won't last long enough for that." Milla whispered as she pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Jack only nodded again. It was their way. Balance, justice, an eye for an eye. Weres didn't have police or judges. Packs became judge and jury, with the Alpha as executioner with the final say in matters of crime and punishment.

Milla was going to override all of that, a blood price for the torture Jamie inflicted on her father. As his only family, it was her right.

Even Jack saw the justice in it and wouldn't try to stop her. He had every confidence that she was stronger than the new Alpha, many times over.

It was normal for a Were to become physically stronger even in human form as the full moon approached. For Milla, because she wasn't bound by the moon, that extra strength was always present and amplified, just as her wolf was. The vampire blood Elena had given her all those years ago had taken a deep hold over her body as it repaired her genetic material. They didn't really know the limits of what Milla would be capable of, but she was much stronger than any other Were Jack had ever seen and it appeared to be a permanent situation.

Jack had been forced to replace the screen door at their home more than once as it came off in her hands from her just trying to open it after her curse roared to life. He'd told her at the time it had been loose to keep her from getting upset. But the deep screws that had been sunk into wood and metal being pulled clean from the door frame worked in Jack's mind as a valid illustration of her potential strength.

He had kept his suspicions to himself because her training was being closely monitored by other members of the pack and he knew the alarm bells that would have gone off if they knew what he did. And he'd been proven right….many times over.

He was immensely proud of Milla. Of her strength and freedom, as well as her heart. Milla had walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death at a young age and emerged something new that none of them understood. He saw no limits to what she was capable of.

A prouder father had never drawn breath. That he knew for sure. Of course the others wanted her. But they couldn't have her. Over his dead body.

"Tell me about this Niklaus." Solemn amber eyes moved over her and noted the determination in the set of her jaw at his question. He carefully patted the bed beside him motioning for her to sit.

Milla already knew they were alone in the house, otherwise speaking freely wouldn't be an option.

She smiled as she sat with him, letting her eyes reflect her heart.

"He is good and honorable. Like you. And I love him, Dad." She laid a hand on his, careful of his bandages.

"He's not our kind. One bad moment with you might kill him. Like a human sleeping next to a rattlesnake. You see how this isn't a good idea, don't you?" He meant that their bite was poisonous to vampires, which usually prevented a mix of the two races.

"That's where you're wrong." She turned and carefully lifted one of his hands to drape across her knee. "He's different. He's both. The only one of his kind. He's immune to my bite, Dad and he has a wolf of his own – even bigger than mine."

Jack sat back, surprised by that revelation.

Milla saw in his face, though, that he was still searching for a way to convince her this was a mistake.

"He's too old for you." Jack crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw set.

"How much older were you than my mother again?" Milla asked him with a smile. She already knew the answer. In years he'd been sixty two, although he'd looked thirty or so at the time. Her mother had only been twenty and had never activated her curse that anyone knew of.

"That's different." One of his dark brows rose at her.

Milla drew a deep breath. She didn't want to argue her father, especially now, when he was weak and recovering.

"You know I've never been one to go around with my heart on my sleeve. No boyfriends, no dates. And I've always been satisfied with that." She turned and rested her head on his shoulder as she went on.

"But now…I love him. And he loves me, Dad. I don't know where it'll lead. I don't have to yet. Can't you just be happy for me? Please?"

Jack gingerly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and blew a deep sigh.

"I guess I always knew this day would come. I just hoped it would be later. You'd be older. Much older….like forty." His words were a familiar grumble and she knew he was hearing her, on the path to accepting it.

"You know, if he's Elijah's brother, he's got to be hundreds of years old." Jack whispered at her, aware that there was always a chance of being overheard in this house.

"I know. I don't care." She told him and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

Jack sighed heavily again. "Well, at least I know he can keep you safe. He tore through them last night like a tornado through a trailer park."

Milla laughed. Although he didn't realize it, his words were high praise. Her dad loved storms. They spent many an hour when she was small watching storm clouds roll in and out of their area while he taught her about their majesty and raw power.

It's going to be okay. He would come to respect Klaus and her decision.

Milla spent the whole day caring for her father while everyone was out. At sundown, when Elijah and Elena returned he had fallen asleep. Milla grabbed the car keys, headed out.

She hadn't been able to see Klaus all day while she tended to her father. Only a day, and yet she missed him. Just thinking of the look in his eyes when he spoke for them both to her father, made her heart pound.

His cabin was quiet, only one small light shining through the front window. As she pulled up, he appeared on the front porch.

Milla stepped out of the car and strode right up without stopping to wrap her arms around him.

She didn't speak. Instead, she leaned up and kissed him. He drew a surprised breath and she smiled against his lips. Running her hands over his back, she wove them under the material and up over smooth cool skin. He gasped and deepened the kiss.

Her hands continued their flow across him, moving to both sides and sliding slowly up over him. Both of his hands came around to cup her bottom and pull her hips more tightly against him.

Finally, she ran her fingertips over his chest from his clavicle to his waist, treasuring every ripple and muscle that spasmed as she touched it, kissing him feverishly all the while. Feeling bold, she pushed his shirt aside, breaking the kiss to lightly lick a flat nipple. His breath hissed out of him and lifted her up from the floor, heading for the door, into the cabin before she could blink.

She found herself sitting on his bed. He was stripping away his shirt and stepping out of his jeans quickly. She smiled and followed suit but he finished first. Hurried hands helped her rid herself of her bra and panties. Somehow, in his haste, her panties ended up a tattered pile of fluff. He looked uncertainly at her with what was left of them in his hands and she only smiled, patting the bed for him to sit. When he joined her, she went up on her knees, pushing him down hard against the bed. She noticed it made him smile for some reason.

She straddled him and leaned down again to touch him the way she had before, with her lips and tongue against the dark nipple. He groaned down deep, both hands coming up into her hair. His body arched slowly under her as she moved to the other side. She sank down on him and they moved together setting a frenzied rhythm. His hands came up, a caress that moved across her back and around to her breasts. The moment went on and on, a beautiful tension building in them both.

Her cry of release filled the room as she reached the goal before he did. A few seconds later Klaus let out what she could only call a roar as his whole body drew tight and shuddered under her.

She rested her head on his chest, working to catch her breath. His arms came up tightly around her as they laid there.

Milla turned after a few moments and met his eyes.

"Hello." She said with a smile.

Klaus tipped his head back and his laughter filled the room.

"I concede defeat. You are much better at hellos than I ever could be." He told her as he rolled her to the side, wrapping arms and legs around her.

"I've been wanting to do that for quite a while." She confided as he had when he'd kissed her hello before in the gardens, her smile widening. He laughed again.

She pointed out that although it was funny, it was also true.

"Consider my door always open for you and your hellos." He told her as he kissed her.

When they grew quiet again, Milla said, "Thank you for bringing my dad back to me." She leaned up and met his eyes.

"Surely you know by now that I would do anything for you." He told her with a smile, his eyes moving slowly over her face.

"I love you." Was her answer and he echoed it back to her, his eyes glowing with it.

In the warm silence between them, something occurred to her.

"How did you find him, anyway? We didn't have any leads." She asked, rising to lean on one elbow.

His eyes went to the ceiling, avoiding her gaze. "A witch owed me a favor."

She studied his profile. "And wasn't particularly eager to pay up."

Denim blue eyes met hers and were narrowed. "How do you do that?" He sat up and moved close so their nose tips touched.

All wide eyed innocence, she asked him with a smile, "What?"

"Already know what I have not yet said." He was smiling too, his voice a mock growl at her.

A slim shoulder rose and fell in a small shrug as her smile faded away. "I don't know. It's not always there. And it's not just you. So don't think it's some failing on your part. I don't usually say what I know like I have with you. I'll keep all of that to myself if you want." Her husky voice had grown small, her eyes focused on her toes.

A hand came up to touch her face and he brought her eyes up to meet his.

"Not at all. It is a marvel to me to be so well understood." Small arms came up around him, a relieved smile shining up at him.

"Then I'll say thank you for whatever you had to do to get your favor paid back. It was something you're not proud of."

He smiled down at her and shook his head. "I had to pretend to still be who I once was." He admitted.

Threats of violence were a small price to pay for her father's life, Klaus told himself.

"And that was hard for you." Amber eyes glowed at him and she pressed a kiss to his chin. "I'm sorry."

"I can see keeping secrets from you will be a problem."

She moved in close and began pressing slow open mouthed kisses along his throat and jawline.

The heat rekindled between them and he said, "But then again, secrets are overrated."

An hour later Klaus watched Milla gather her long hair over one shoulder. She sat with the blanket from his bed wrapped around her. He'd been watching her, fascinated. She was working a brush from her bag through her blonde hair. He stood, still undressed, and went to sit behind her on the bed.

Quietly he held a hand out to her as she worked and she turned to meet his eyes. Without speaking, he asked her for the brush. She smiled and shrugged handing it to him.

He moved the brush over her hair in slow, smooth strokes watching her begin to relax her shoulders as he worked, the brush trailing over her naked back with each pass. Her hair was fine and soft. The light played over it highlighting strands that were so blonde they were white.

After a long while, he spoke. "What plans did you make for yourself before you came here?"

She had started to lean back against him as he worked and he felt her tense at his words. He continued to move the brush over her gently, waiting for an answer.

"You mean college? Career?" He nodded.

"To be honest I didn't make plans like that. I always knew my curse would activate. So, for me, that was the focus of my future." The words were a whisper and she sighed while he gently worked.

"If you could do anything, then, what would it be?" He asked her quietly.

She grew still, her eyes closed while she considered as he moved the brush over her.

Finally, she said, on another sigh, "Travel. There hasn't been much chance for that. Dad does okay on a mechanic's salary, but there was never enough for much more than coming here for vacations and holidays. I've always wanted to see New York City. Oh…and Paris. I took French in school and that's the closest I've ever come."

There was nothing she could've said that would have pleased him more. She had a restless heart just as he did. He'd been still here for months and it was highly unusual for him. His norm was to be moving, one city to another across Europe preferably. He laid the brush down and gathered her to his chest pressing his lips to the crown of her blonde head.

"You are perfect." He whispered against her.

She turned to him with a smile. "Not perfect. I have nasty anger management issues." She took one of his hands and kissed the back of it.

He only smiled.

She stopped and looked down at his hand. After a moment she reached to take the other one.

"Everyone else I know like you wears a silver ring all the time. Why don't you?" He wore no jewelry.

"Those are daylight rings. A spell of my mother's a few decades into what we are. They allow us to walk in the sunlight."

"But you don't wear one." Her blonde hair fell over a shoulder as she cocked her head at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Not anymore. No." He could see her mind working. "Elijah does not need it either. He does not like to give anything away about himself. I could care less."

"So you're immune to wolf bites and sunlight." He smiled, inclining his head. She went on, "No weaknesses then?" She leaned close, laying her head on his bare chest.

"Just a certain blonde werewolf." He brought his arms up around her, a smile in his voice.

She snuggled close, turning her face and leaning her forehead against him.

"I really was worried I would hurt you someday. I can't tell you what a relief that is, that you're immune." He ran a hand along her hair.

"And I have been a nomad for centuries. See what I mean? Perfect."

"So you've already been everywhere?" She sounded disappointed.

But he laughed. "I have not been everywhere with you. And believe me when I say that it matters."

The next day Milla was with her father sitting in the chair at his bedside as he slept again. The wounds were closing and the tracks had faded. But the bones were still working to knit themselves together. Compared to human healing, Were healing was remarkable, taking days rather than weeks. But the damage to bone took time and he would continue to struggle for a few more days before he regained the use of his hands and feet.

The quiet rumble of voices down the hall caught her attention. She headed to the hall and stood, hearing Elijah's deep voice and then Klaus' answering it. They were together in Elijah's study with the door closed discussing strategy for what would come.

The closed door gave her pause, unsure about interrupting them. After a moment she straightened her shoulders and knocked after hearing their tentative plan.

A deep voice answered her and she opened the door. Milla stepped in, closing it behind her and leaning against it.

"I couldn't help but overhear." She said apologetically, her eyes moving between them.

"You should know that Weres have a long memory. If you draw them here and it becomes a fight, whoever comes shouldn't walk away. They'll come back again at a later date looking for retribution if they have the chance." She met Elijah's dark eyes as she spoke.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded.

"I can see the wisdom in that." He told her solemnly.

"And the one who did this to my father….he's mine either way." Her husky voice had grown deep.

They both nodded after a moment, acknowledging her right to kill Jamie.