Klaus' POV

It's been a while, and I hope that everyone is thriving or will be one day. :)

Mary fucking Gilbert would be the death of me if I weren't an immortal hybrid. Not only was she confusing in the most infuriating way since you would have to be psychic (one of the few talents I unfortunately didn't possess) to understand anything that was going through her head, but she also had to be the most goddamn adorable creature that I had ever come across in my thousand years.

She had light grey eyes that probably made lesser men weak in the knees and wild, untameable dark auburn hair.

Not to mention that I was already addicted to the feeling of her lips against my own. She was wrapped up in my arms and the only thing about this situation that I regretted was that we had an audience.

Mary moaned.

My resolve was weakening by the second even though it wasn't that strong around here in the first place. I was supposed to be questioning her right now, demanding answers. Why had she been working with my mother? Esther must have manipulated her to use Mary for her own devices. Just the thought of my mother using my mate made me furious, but at least that problem was taken care of for the time being.

But his mother was dead again except this time, it should be more permanent, and the last thing that I wanted to do was let Mary go, not even for a moment. She's safest in my arms, I tried to rationalize, but I knew that wasn't the only reason why I couldn't let go.

Suddenly, Mary's scent was much stronger. She always smelled like a mixture between the rain and a light rose scent, but suddenly it was intoxicating.

My wolf was growing stir crazy and all I could think about was taking off her maroon colored dress that she was still wearing from last night.

"What's going on here?" Damon asked. God, what was the motherfucking scooby gang still doing here?

"I think somebody might be going into heat," 'Lijah murmured.

I growled again.

Originally, I wanted to take things slow with Mary. My mate. For starters, I didn't know that she even existed until a couple of days ago. I had heard legends before about vampires or werewolves having mates, but I thought that those were all lies. After all, I was over a thousand years old and had never come across one before.

But that was because she hadn't been born yet. She was the only one for me and always had been. It was fate and all of the other relationships I had in the past didn't matter. The other girls faces couldn't even come to mind because it seemed like such a blur.

All that mattered now was her.

I vowed to protect her from all of our worst enemies until my dying breath; something that was very unlikely to happen given my immortality but still.

Maybe on a slightly less dramatic note, I wanted to learn everything that there was to know about her so that I could make her unbelievably happy.

It was my most important job, the only thing that mattered now.

She was the center of my universe, and I would be anything that she needed me to be.

Right now, she was suffering from the mating heat, and I knew what I needed-no desperately wanted to do to make her feel better. Ecstatic even.

But first, I had to get her away from the pesky Salvatore brothers and even my own family. I'm sure that 'Lijah, Kol, and Finn had the best intentions when it came to my mate, please note the sarcasm here, but they couldn't even imagine what I was feeling.

No, she was mine, not theirs.

Nobody could be anymore devoted to her, so they must have been momentarily distracted by her dazzling beauty when they tried to claim Mary as their own, and I could forgive them for it. She truly was exquisite afterall, but she was more than that. So much more.

However, I wouldn't let them have her. I loved my brothers, but they could be absolute, bloody idiots from time to time which was why I had to occasionally dagger them and keep them in a secure location for a couple of centuries or more, but that too was in the past.

Unless they tried to lay one finger on what wasn't theirs.

Then I wouldn't give them the courtesy of daggering them. No, instead they would wish that they had never been born and when I was finished torturing them, then I really would stake them for good this time.

"Klaus, please," Mary softly begged.

"Shh, don't worry, darling," I said as I kissed the top of her head. "You don't have to beg. I'll give you everything that your heart desires."

Slowly, I began to exit the room with her still in my arms of course. I wasn't letting her go until I repeatedly fulfilled my promise.

Elijah wasn't the only one that was a man of his word after all.

There was a loud commotion behind us. Sounded like one of the Salvatores was throwing one of their notorious tantrums. They really were equivalent to a vampire toddler, a being that I didn't think existed until now.

But one of my brothers would be sure to take care of that. They did have their uses sometimes, and if they wanted to protect my mate, then I would let them for the time being.

They just had to make sure that they stayed out of my way. I don't sure what is mine and truly precious to me.

"Niklaus, are you sure that's a good idea?" 'Lijah asked as he took a step in front of us. "Please, let's think through this and not make any rash decisions."

I decided to ignore his flared nostrils and the heat in his eyes. He was only pretending to be affected by this, but since he wasn't her mate, he couldn't be impacted by her heat. Judging by the crazed look in her darkened eyes, he looked like he was two seconds away from ripping my head off.

I smirked at the thought. Even if we did end up in a dual over what was rightfully mine, there wasn't a question about who would win the fight. I was undeniably stronger and clever than my eldest brother.

I hoped that it didn't come to that though. There was a time where he was the one I trusted the most and often turned to for counsel. Even though it would be very difficult, he would get over his infatuation with her because she wasn't his.

I, on the other hand, refused to live without her.

"You have nothing to worry about, brother," I said in my most earnest voice. "I have not come to any rash decisions. She is my mate, and I don't want her to suffer, especially when I believe I know how to satisfy her needs very well."

Elijah closed his eyes, looking like he was in immeasurable pain. Ah, how he wished the roles were reversed, but alas, they were not.

For some reason unknown to me, the fates had decided to bless me with a sweet, innocent mate, and I would do anything within my power to keep her sheltered from the harsh, outside world. I would only show her only the best parts. The beautiful cities and outdoors. The music. Art. Culture.

She would want for nothing.

"Niklaus, please," 'Lijah said still looking like he was in agony. "I beg you just to wait a second and listen to reason. You might know what this means, but she certainly isn't ready for this yet."

Mary was moaning as she began to rub herself against me. I was growing impatient and rather annoyed with my brother. I didn't want to put her through agony. I heard the mating heat could be rough and it lasted anywhere from a day to a week. Good thing that this house had housekeeping. I didn't mind cooking or cleaning, but I had a feeling that we would both be rather occupied elsewhere, and I didn't want my mate to starve.

"I'll make sure not to do anything that she isn't ready for, 'Lijah," I said, a single eyebrow raised. "I am a gentleman afterall."

"Niklaus!" Finn said in a much sharper tone as he entered the room alongside Kol. It hadn't taken them that long to deal with the Salvatore brothers then. What a shame. Now, they were in the way. "I don't know what you think that you are doing, but you will put the young miss down at once!"

"Or you'll do what, Finn?" I said with a roll of my eyes. There was nothing that they could do to stop me. Currently, all they were was an inconvenience. "I have no problem letting you rot in that coffin of yours again for another millenia. Remember that?"

For the better part of nine hundred years, Finn had rotten away in a coffin with a dagger to the chest. He was a pain in the arse then, and he was still in pain the arse now. If he weren't so damn annoying, then it would be almost comforting how most things remind constant.

Something in Finn's jaw ticked as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Don't test us, Niklaus," Kol said looking downright furious. His main focus was on the girl in my arms. He had no right looking at her as if she were his. It looked like I was going to have to put a stop to this nonsense. "I hate to agree with Finn on anything really, but I am going to have to side with him on this one. Let her go, now."

He said the last part with a growl.

Mary was practically trembling in my arms, but I wouldn't fail her. Not now. Not ever.

"One second, love," I said as I gently placed her on the sectional couch in the living room despite her protests. She could gladly take out her frustrations on me in the bedroom.

I'll hand it to them and give credit where credit is due: 'Lijah, Kol, and Finn put up one hell of a goddamn fight. I thought that I was actually going to have to stake them for real, but thankfully it didn't come to that inconvenience. Unexpectedly, I kept two daggers on me and there was another one tucked away in the living room that they didn't know about.

They were only sleeping on the wooden floors as I carried Mary upstairs to my bedroom. No, correction, our bedroom. Everything that was once mine was now hers, but I would only take what she would happily give.

Before carrying her upstairs, I had checked and I saw that the Salvatore brothers were chained to the wall and knocked out cold on the far side of the living room, so they wouldn't be disturbing us anytime soon.

All that I could think about now was my mate. Gentlemen never give away any details but I will say this- we are not coming out of this room until I have made her body sing and I've filled her up with at least a litter of my pups.

Thanks for reading!