Opening my eyes I took a few moments to come back to my senses. As I gradually returned to my body I could feel its heaviness gradually growing lighter, like air was being pulled into my lungs or warmth seeping into my bones after standing outside in the cold. I blinked, and when my vision came back into focus it was to see Bekah standing in front of me whilst holding Hope in her arms. "You were gone a long time. What's happened?"
"Nik almost killed his real father who Esther brought back from the dead." Surmising everything into a few words, I pulled myself to my feet and began to grab some things. "I need to head out for a while to deal with this. Don't worry, I won't let anyone else see me, but I need to tie this up before it becomes a problem." Bekah balked, not expecting to hear that her mother had brought her lover back from the dead. She followed after me as I hurried to grab my things, last of all being the car keys.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Nik's dad is a werewolf who lived a thousand years ago and is something like werewolf nobility. Although Nik was trying to protect Hope by killing him after he figured out that she was still alive, having Ansel on side is better for Hope. The more family she has, the better off she'll be in the future, trust me. Ansel will be able to persuade other wolves to protect Hope should anything happen to the rest of us, after all she's his granddaughter, and werewolves are very clear on their view of family. They'll protect her if we somehow get beaten, and I want to make sure that she has plenty of people fighting in her corner." Explaining everything as quickly as I could, I think bent down to kiss Hope's sleeping head, smiling at her lovingly. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course. Go do what you need to do. We'll wait here until you come back." Rebekah, who had finally processed what I had just revealed, agreed that this was for the best and saw me off at the door where I took the car in order to get moving. I couldn't bring Ansel directly here, so I had transported him to a forest a few miles away. He was already cloaked, so Esther wouldn't be able to track him, and as I drove my way over to find him, I tried to think about what I was going to say. He's probably freaking out, and considering his own son just tried to murder him, was probably feeling more than a little upset. How was I going to try and defend Nik to him? Would he feel betrayed? Cut him off? I couldn't let that happen, not after all this time of Nik not having anyone to properly teach and guide him. For the best interest of the future, and for Hope, Ansel needed to be here.
So once I finally arrived at the forest, I parked my car somewhere hidden and started towards where I'd placed Ansel within the boundary of flowers, though when I got there I was surprised to find him sitting rather calmly on the ground with his eyes closed, as if he were taking a nap. His werewolf senses alerted him to my presence, and considering I wasn't the most graceful of people, he heard me coming a mile away. He waited for me to get there, and once I was finally in view he opened his eyes and stood up to face me. "You're Ophelia the druid priestess. It's an honour to finally meet you."
"Hi there, I'm sorry about the whole kidnapping thing, but I needed to get you out of there before Nik did something stupid." I hastily explained, waving my hand to dispel the boundary marker and the flowers withered back into the earth, allowing Ansel to move. With a snap of my fingers, a large fire burst into life between us to chase away the cold night air and provide me with light so that I could see Nik's dad more clearly. "Niklaus is impulsive and excessively paranoid. If the circumstances were different, he would never have tried to hurt you, I swear. He just…he just wants to protect Hope, and he's afraid of letting her down so he kind of goes over the top. Like, way over the top." In my haste to try and explain whilst walking forwards, I tripped over a tree root which made me stumble but Ansel grasped hold of my arms to keep me from falling, which made me flush from embarrassment. I'm really making a great impression here.
"You don't need to explain it to me. I understand Niklaus's motivations. Were I in his position, I would do the same thing." Exhaling with relief, I allowed myself a moment to recover my train of thought as Ansel gestured to a log where we could sit down and talk. "I have not met one of your kind since I was alpha of my pack, though of course your people called yourself shamans then, and they were mostly indigenous to the native tribes. Are there many of you left?"
"No, I'm the last one on earth. That's why my magic has such a kick, it's stronger because of the blessings of my ancestors. They sort of gave me a cheat card when I had my Awakening." I explained to him as I lifted my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "Can you tell me about my ancestors? The ones you knew, what were they like?" And so Ansel told me about them, how he had a close friend who was something like an advisor and confidante, assisting his pack when they were in trouble. It was nice to hear about my own people's history, though they were from a different branch of druids, as mine originated from Europe. "As I've watched my son, I also saw how you two met. You've been a good influence on him, and I have to thank you for that. You were the first in his entire life to teach him about restraint, seeing as he could not contend against your power."
"We came to our own understanding and he knew it was in his best interest not to piss me off. I just became close with the family after that, and now here I am." Sighing softly, I stared into the heart of the flames before us. "I apologise for trapping you out here, but I couldn't bring you to where Hope is, it's not safe, and I can't let you see her either. I know that you would want to do right by her, but at the moment there are too many risks involved. If Esther found out about her, she'd try to kill her again and I cannot allow that to happen." Now explaining to Ansel why I brought him out here, he assured me that he understood.
"You almost lost your life in bringing my granddaughter into this world. For that, you have my undying gratitude and respect. Your bravery is to be commended." He said to me and I couldn't help but smile, turning my head to look at him. In the light of the flames, I could see more of Nik in his face and took to locating each and every feature that reminded me of him. "I cannot go back to my son, can I?"
"No. He won't trust you and when it comes to people he doesn't trust, he usually kills them. You only got a free pass this time because he trusts me. I interfered because I knew that you would never do anything to hurt Nik or Hope, but Nik was right about Esther. She would use your love for them both and manipulate you into doing something that would inevitably hurt them. I think it would be best if you remained as far away from them all as possible." I said to him, trying to think of a way to fix this. "If there was no longer a threat to Hope then…then maybe then Nik would be more willing to sit down and get to know you. More than anything, he's always wanted a father he could depend on, and Mikael is no saint, trust me. You know, when I almost went to the Other Side, he tried to kill me and Hope there?" Ansel growled in response, making a promise that were his path to ever cross with Mikael's he would be sure to kill him this time around. "Let's hope that doesn't happen, considering a friend of mine resurrected him and now he's on the loose. Honestly, I fake my death and the lot of them just fall apart. It's like they can't last one day without me." This time Ansel laughed.
"It is the lifelong task of a druid to guide those who are lost, and there is none so lost as my son." This was very true, and I pondered over just why it seemed that no matter what, I seemed to be bonded to Nik. "He is very lucky to have you, Ophelia. Were I able to, I would encourage him to take your counsel more often, and to recognise that he is a fool if he does not realise the depth of your meaning to him."
"I love him." The words came out before I could stop them, but I did not want to take them back. I hugged my knees closer to me, staring at the flames once more. "I'm not sure if I have a terrible taste in guys, or I'm just insane, but I do. I love him despite everything, and he's too stupid to realise that I'd do anything for him. I love Hope, but I didn't carry her and protect her at first just for nothing. I did it for him, because she was his daughter. If I didn't feel the way I did about him, I would never have agreed to carrying her. I'd have persuaded Hayley to keep her, or insisted on finding someone more suitable to be a surrogate, but in that moment, I knew that there wasn't anyone half as competent as myself to protect that little girl other than Hayley." I had no idea why I was admitting this to Ansel, a guy I had only just met, but I felt like I could trust him, and that being far older and wiser due to his experiences, his listening to the bitter complications of my life was a comfort. "People are always expecting me to know the answers to everything, or to have solutions to their problems or even ask me to kill their enemies, but Nik was one of the few who didn't expect me to side with him. We became friends, and the more I got to know the real him, not the vengeful, paranoid, arrogant jerk he can be, I found it harder and harder to step away."
"My son has a shameful lack of perspective, and his ignorance will one day be his downfall." Ansel said to me and even placed his hand on the back of my head just as he had done to Nik. His large hand was comforting, the weight seemingly lifting off the other pressures that I felt until it were as if he had taken them from me to carry them himself. "To not realise that a woman as strong and courageous as yourself was willing to sacrifice everything for him, it reveals his foolishness. It is my hope that you will continue to watch over him when I cannot, but you should not do so at the consequence of your own happiness. If my son does not soon realise how great his fortunes are to have your affections, then he is not worthy of you." I laughed then, unable to help it. For a father to basically call his own son an idiot just because he couldn't see I was head over heels for him, it was a huge compliment.
"I think you and I are going to get along just fine." I decided, nodding my head in approval. "So, what are we going to do about you now? You can't go back and you can't stay here near Hope. If you want, I can try and make a moonlight ring for you so that you don't turn every full moon, then you won't be drawn to her every time you turn." Although he appreciated the offer, Ansel refused as he did not believe in dismissing his own nature, and his nature was to turn upon the full moon. I couldn't risk him potentially exposing Hope and leading someone to her each night he turned, so we began to discuss other options. He was willing to allow himself to be detained somewhere and kept a prisoner until the conflict in New Orleans was resolved and Hope's identity revealed, however I did not feel comfortable with that. There were several suggestions, but the only airtight one we could agree on was if I put Ansel into a deep sleep then kept him hidden somewhere safe.
At first I was reluctant, but Ansel was fully willing to comply with any means necessary to both protect Hope and to also prove to Nik that he was not going to be a threat, so after preparing the ingredients necessary for the spell, I created the concoction that would send Ansel into a comatose sleep where he would not wake until I gave him the antidote. I added a few contingencies to the spell, such as if by any unfortunate accident I were to die or be killed, he would wake up immediately, and other things to make sure that he would be safe before I then created a tomb for him that no one would be able to find. The rocks shifted as I lifted them, creating a space where Ansel will be able to rest comfortably before I then placed wards and protective spells over it. No one would be able to find it, or see it, unless I gave them the location, and no form of weather or natural element could cause the tomb harm.
Fire, water, earth, nothing would break it, so Ansel was as safe as possibly could be. Once I was done, I marked one of the rocks with a druid symbol as a final protection barrier until finally, I could return to Bekah and Hope. I told her everything that had happened and what I had done, where she agreed that this was the only way to be sure that Hope would remain hidden. We could not allow anyone with knowledge of her existence to wander around. If Ansel had been captured, there are many means to force someone to give up the truth, no matter how hard he may resist, so at least this way, no one will find him.
Now exhausted, I settled myself on the couch with Hope in my arms, nursing her whilst watching TV though my eyes were closed. I had grown so used to being with her now that I had no idea how I was going to manage letting her go. I had to constantly remind myself that she wasn't truly mine, that one day I would have to give her back to Hayley and Nik, but at least for now I could have these moments with her. I wonder if she'll remember, or at least, have a sense who I am should she grow up and I couldn't be around. I hope that wouldn't be the case, that I could come back and visit from time to time and be like an aunt to her, just like Bekah. Perhaps one day, once all of Nik's enemies had been dealt with, we can all live as a family together in one neighbourhood, or if the house is big enough, in the same home. I'd like that, more than anything, so with a smile on my face I let Hope continue to feed whilst I envisioned her future where everything was perfect and she was happy. The happiest little girl in the world.