Well, here's the new chapter. Knowing me and how hard is for me to keep a schedule, I'm just happy I'm managing to post in July.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!
P.S. I hope you all have a wonderful week ;)!


CHAPTER VIII

THE OTHER PART OF MY SOUL

France, 1093 A.D.

The only warning she got was a tingling sensation at the back of her mind, whispering that someone – a very specific someone she knew better than she knew herself – was getting closer to her wards. She titled her head to the side, considering the matter for a second, knowing perfectly well that avoiding him after he had already found her would make everything worse, and then she sighed, allowing him inside. In the instant he entered, it was as if a candle lit up inside her mind, allowing her to know his exact position on the property – as well as giving her the power to do with him whatever she wanted – as he crossed all the land between them at vampire speed.

Sighing again, she went and opened the door of the little cabin where she'd been staying for the last two days. A second later, he was standing a few feet from her, grinning from ear to ear.

"What are you doing here, Kol?"

"Is that the way you welcome your favorite brother? I'm hurt, sister"

"I left home without saying where I was going. Most people would think that was a signal that I wanted to be left alone."

"You choose one of my properties as your little hideout, most people would think that was an unspoken invitation for me to come."

"This isn't really one of your properties" she protested just because, feeling a little petulant.

"My former lover left me this cabin and the land surrounding it before she died. Of course this is my property"

"You forced her to do it before killing her, Kol. And then, when you got bored of this place, you gave it to me as a gift"

"That doesn't change the fact this place is a secret only the two of us know about. And if you truly had wanted to be left alone, you would have chosen a different place to hide."

"I'm not hiding" she said, choosing to ignore everything else he had said for the time being.

"Are you sure?" Kol demanded, lifting a single eyebrow in skepticism "Because for my perspective, it looks to me like you got into a horrible fight with your sorry excuse of a husband, and instead of staying and facing your problems head on, you decided to leave without say anything to your own family, and then you hid in this little cabin in the middle of nowhere…."

It hurt her pride to be unable to refute his words but there wasn't anything she could do about it, not when that was exactly what had happened. "Is this your way of telling me I need to come back home?"

Kol rolled his eyes. "No, that was just me pointing out the obvious… And now I want you to invite me inside so you can explain to me why my favorite sister decided it was a good idea to leave me without bothering to say goodbye"

"I didn't leave you, Kol" she said firmly, taking his hand and leading him inside the cabin.

"No, you're right, it was worse than that. You left Nik because he was being an insufferable, jealous asshole, and I somehow got punished alongside him with your sudden departure" he accused her, harshly. And even though his voice sounded furious, she could see how much she had hurt him in his dark eyes, and in the way he was gripping her hand almost to the point of pain.

Without second thought, she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight and letting her head rest on his shoulder. "I am truly sorry, brother. I wasn't… I wasn't thinking when I left." She admitted "I thought I just needed a moment away to calm down, but it has been two days and I– I still haven't decided if I want to come back"

Kol hugged her back just as fiercely, resting his chin at the top of her head. "Why didn't you contact me? I would have been here in a heartbeat; you must know that"

"I know you would have come if I asked you to, but I did not want to make you choose"

"What are you-?" he pushed her a little away, just enough to let him make eye contact with her "You are considering staying away from the family for good" he realized.

"If Niklaus and I can't get past this and mend our relationship, maybe it's for the best I stay away"

"The best for whom? For Finn? Because he staked Nik and then he went searching for you. For Bekah? She threw Nik's own paintings to his head and then she refused to believe you would leave us for good. For Elijah? Our boring and noble brother actually beat up Niklaus to a pulp and then he went to find a wand-wielder who was willing to do a spell to locate you… Or do you think this is the best for me or for Nik?" Kol paused and then added in a harsh whisper "Do you have any idea of what I did when I heard what happened? I broke every bone in Nik's body for hurting you. And when he healed, I broke them again. And you know what he did? He stood there, not saying anything, and let me break them. He let all of us beat him up. And after, he locked himself in his study to destroy all his paintings."

Ingrid closed her eyes in shame, knowing her actions had done the very same thing she had been trying to avoid. She had hurt her family. "I am so sorry" she told him, resting her forehead in his chest "The last thing I wanted was to hurt any of you. I just-"

"You just wanted to avoid making us pick a side between you and Nik"

She nodded. "I didn't want to fracture our family. No when, a long time ago, I promise myself my relationship with Niklaus would not affect the rest of the family"

Kol sighed, somehow making it sound completely exasperated. "It's too late for that, sister… Maybe it would be different if we had stayed human but, by this point, your relationship with Nik is a part of the very core of our family dynamic. And if anything happens to it, all of us are going to be affected."

On some level, she had known that since the beginning. And maybe that was why she had refused to come back and see for herself what her decision had caused. So she wouldn't have to confirm for herself that she had been the very thing which had broken them apart after decades together.

"You're right, of course. I should go back and-"

"Hey, stop right there" he cut her off "I know what I said. But don't make any decisions about your relationship thinking of us. You need to decide what do you want to do based on what's best for you, not for anyone else, nor even for Nik"

"Kol-"

"Our moronic, dysfunctional, family has survived through things no other family has survived. Nothing could truly break us apart, no when we have an eternity ahead of us to fix what's broken." He promised, looking right into her eyes "So don't think about us and do what's best for you. We all be alright in the end. Always and forever, remember?"

The tears started to fall without her noticing and, between one moment and the next, she was gasping for breath, crying as if there was not tomorrow as she held onto him as if he was her only line life. And Kol simply held her in his arms, whispering in her ear promises that everything was going to be alright while he gently rubbed her back.

Ingrid didn't know how long she cried, or how long they stood there hugging each other for dear life, but, eventually, they broke apart and made their way towards the stove, where she heated them both a cup of milk.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked her after a long moment of silence.

There wasn't any way to pretend to not know to what he was referring. "Niklaus didn't tell you anything?"

Kol huffed. "He only told us you left him after the two of you got into a fight... He also said it was his fault, but anyone with a brain could have figure that out, so I don't know why he bothered telling us that."

Ingrid sighed, gripping her cup of milk. She was surprised Niklaus had admitted being the one at fault, especially after what they had said to each other when they had been fighting, but that didn't change what had happened. "You know we have been fighting lately…"

"Everyone knows you two have been fighting" he corrected her "You haven't been subtle about all your arguments. But until now, I refrained from asking because it was obvious you didn't want to talk about it."

She nodded, not surprised by that. Kol knew her better than she knew herself sometimes. "But I bet you have a pretty good idea why we've been fighting anyway"

"You know me, sister" he said with a wink "I can't never resist a good mystery, especially when you're at the center of it… And from what I could gather, Nik has been in a jealous tizzy about how much time you have been spending teaching magic to all those young wand-wielders."

She nodded.

At the beginning of their eternity, they had stayed more than two decades at Hogwarts, learning everything they could from the founders. They had been so happy there. Her family had experimented and learned everything there was to know about their powers as vampires with the guidance of Rowena and Salazar. And Ingrid – and Kol – had learned everything there was to know about being a wand-wielder, about the history and traditions of her people, and about magic in general. They all had learned so much that, eventually, they had started teaching one subject or another.

And for the longest time, they had lived in peace inside the castle without the need to hide who they were.

But then Mikael had tracked them down and they had decided to leave before someone got hurt in the crossfire. Since then, they had not stopped moving from one place to another, moving from city to city, from country to country. In some places, they had stayed some years, but their experience in Hogwarts had taught them a lesson, and they had learned to never stay for too long because doing so meant setting down roots and adding more people to the list of those they would miss when they were forced to move once more.

However, the more time went by, the more she had missed the simple joy of teaching and being around other wand-wielders like her. So, around a decade before, when the first person had approached her asking to learn from her because of her growing reputation as the Immortal Witch, she had decided to accept. And the number of her students had only grown since then.

Everyone in her family had been happy for her. Everyone but Nik, who had grown more and more jealous of the time she spent with her students as the time went by. And his jealous rants and acts had led to arguments between them, which had eventually turned into increasingly more serious fights.

Until they had had a fight she could no longer ignore.

"He caught me talking alone with one of my older students and he went berserker. He tried to kill my student and when I stopped him, he accused me of breaking our marriage vows. He- He told me that if I was so eager to be with other people, I should just leave and not come back."

The worst part, she thought, was that their fight had hurt them both. She had seen Niklaus' hurt during their fight, hidden behind every word he'd throw her way, and she had also seen regret in his eyes in the instant after he had told her to leave. But by then, it had been too late.

"He did what?!" Kol spat, jumping to his feet "That fucking bastard. I will fucking kill him. I swear I will."

"It's alright, brother"

"No, it's not alright" he denied, still visibly furious "That's why you left, isn't it? Because of what Nik said?"

"In part" she admitted "But that's not why I've stayed here since then… I left because I was too angry to think straight and I didn't want to say anything that I could regret later, but, after I calmed down, I realized I didn't want to go back to repeat the cycle… Because I can already see what will happen if I go back. Niklaus will apologize and we will be fine for a couple of years, and then he will get jealous over someone else, and the fights will start again, and I- I don't want to do that for the rest of my eternity." She paused and then admitted out loud something she had never dared to even think before "I deserve a better marriage than one plagued by doubts and jealousy."

"You do" Kol assured her, taking her hand in his "And if you want to break your marriage bond with Nik, you know I would support you every step of the way"

She gripped his hand, feeling her heart break apart in two. "I love him so, so much, Kol. More than any human language could ever explain. And the last thing I want is to end our marriage but I- I don't know how we can go on as we'd done until now without ending up hating each other eventually."

"Oh, sister dearest" he sighed, squeezing back her hand. "You have to know most of Nik's jealousy towards every wand-wielder you become friendly with is rooted in his inability of giving you a child despite knowing how much you want one"

"I know, which is why I tolerated his fits of jealousy for so long." She admitted "But no matter how many times I have tried to talk to him about it, to reassure him that I don't need a child to be happy, the message never seems to stay with him for long and we can't go on like this for eternity. No matter how much we love each other, a relationship like that is doomed to fail."

For a moment, he was silent and then he let a long exhale and looked right at her eyes. "Did you know I resented Nik for the longest time after the two of you got together?"

"What-?"

Kol huffed a small laugh and looked up to the roof. "All my life, you have been my one and only constant. No matter what happened or what I did, you were the only one who never turned me away. You have been by my side since the day we were born, and I always thought of you as the other part of my soul, separated at the womb but-"

"—but reunited at birth" she completed with a smile, nodding "I know what you are talking about. In all the ways that matter, you are my twin, my other half."

"My other half" Kol agreed, smiling "Yeah, exactly… But then Nik fell in love with you, and it was like everyone thought you belonged with him, that you were his. And I resented Nik for taking away the only person I thought as mine."

"Oh, Kol. It wasn't like that at all" Ingrid assured him immediately, horrified he had even thought that for a second "My love for Nik does not dismiss my love for you. I love you both more than life itself, but the love I feel for each of you it's different in its nature. You are my twin, my other half. And Nik is-"

"He is the love of your life" he completed for her with a sincere smile "I know, sister. And do you know what made me realize that?" He didn't wait for her to respond and continued talking with that same smile on his face "The way you glow with happiness every time you are around him… And I'm not going to let you lose that happiness just because Nik is an insufferable bastard with trust issues"

"What are you talking about, Kol?"

"If there was a way to make sure Nik never doubts you again, and he apologizes for been an idiot. Would you forgive him?"

She didn't even need to think about it. "You know I would. I love him and I don't want to lose him, but I don't see how we can repair our relationship, not when there's nothing any of us can do. Only Nik has the power to change."

"Well, that's not entirely true. I can't help Nik with his apology, though I hope it include him groveling at your feet for a long while" he said, giving that smirk full of confidence so typical of him "But the trust issues part? With that I can help"

"How?" she demanded, more than a little confused.

"I actually been thinking about this for a long time now" he admitted "Since I realized vampirism had turned Nik into a paranoid bastard with uncontrollable trust issues, and I saw all the problems that could bring for you."

Ingrid frowned, not knowing how to interpret his words. "I appreciate the thought, brother, but what exactly do you have in mind? I refuse to influence his decisions with magic, and I don't know what I could say – that I haven't already said – that could change his mind"

"I'm thinking in a magical vow" Kol said, grinning "A vow that would use your magical marriage bond as a conduit and it would ensure neither of you could ever betray the other, at least not without breaking the bond in the process… That way, Nik could never doubt your faithfulness, and neither could you."

Her mouth dropped open as her mind raced, considering all the possibilities of what he was saying. The marriage bond that tied Niklaus and her together was the manifestation of Lady Magic's blessing of their union, but it didn't have a physical consequence. But if they added a magical vow to the bond… Yes. She could see how that could prevent either of them to betray the other.

If Niklaus was willing to do the vow with her, if he had enough faith in their relationship, then they could mend all the fractures and move on.

It could work.

Ingrid looked at her brother in wonder. "You beautiful genius"

Kol smiled, wide and proud. "Oh, sister dearest, you know me, I would do anything for you."


&&&/08/&&&


There were tears running down her cheeks when Aria was woken up by Kreacher.

Happy tears.

For a moment, all she could do was lie in her bed, trying to sort through the feelings going through her, separating her own emotions from the ones connected to whatever she had been dreaming on, and not drown in all the waves of love she was feeling. She'd been dreaming with someone important – she thought dazedly – someone she had loved in a way that was impossible to explain.

The other part of-

"Is mistress alright?" a voice to her right croaked, ripping her from her daze. "Nasty, nasty dreams, confusing Kreacher's mistress like this"

"What-?" she mumbled, confused, rising from her bed on autopilot "Kreacher? What happened?"

"Kreacher is sorry for waking mistress" he promised her as he gave her a mug filled with hot chocolate "But mistress told Kreacher to wake her if she didn't wake up in time for luncheon"

"Right. I told you that" she agreed, accepting the mug as she tried to push back the confusing memories that were rapidly receding to the back of her mind. She needed to focus on the present, everything else didn't matter. "Are the kids already awake?" she asked, taking a long and fortifying sip of her chocolate.

"The little brat and the blonde half-breed woke up hours ago and went exploring the dirty muggle town… The half-breed had the nerve to say they were going to eat at a nasty muggle restaurant" Kreacher reported to her in a hushed hiss, as if it were a huge scandal "Poor Kreacher was ignored when he tried to stop them. The disgrace!"

"Don't worry, Kreacher. They didn't mean anything bad about it" she promised and, trying to distract him, she added "Does that meant Tyler is still sleeping?"

Judging by his mulish pout, he knew what she was trying to do and didn't like it, but, after a long moment, he let it go. Mostly. "Yes, mistress" he answered curtly, still frowning in petulance.

Aria sighed.

Well, at least her plans for the day hadn't been completely ruined. They wouldn't all share their lunch together – because if they went looking for Teddy and Caroline to eat with them, Kreacher would probably throw a fit of epic proportions – but she would still share her meal with Tyler, which would allow her to know how he was handling everything after the full moon. And they still got enough time to go together to New York's magical district in the afternoon.

So, they could still spend an awesome family day together if everything went according to her plan from then on.

(She should have remembered her Potter Luck always liked to screw her over when she less expected)

"In that case, let him rest for a little while longer" she decided after checking the time in the clock hanging in her wall. "He probably is exhausted after his first transformation… Do you have the pain-reliving potion ready?"

"Kreacher did as mistress asked" he confirmed with a nod.

"Excellent" she praised him, getting to her feet "While Tyler sleeps, I'll use the time to do some of my pending paperwork. Merlin knows I need to finish it before the goblins decided to curse me for all the delay."

"Of course, mistress" he agreed, vanishing the empty mug with a snap of his fingers "Kreacher will bring mistress something to snack while she does her very important work." Without waiting for her response – or, more likely, her objection – Kreacher vanished with a pop.

Silently amused, she rolled her eyes and made her way towards her walk-in-closet. On her way there, she paused when she caught sight of her communication-mirror, noting with interest that the surface was fogged.

Of the many, many features they had added when they had created their version of the original communication-mirror Sirius and her dad had invented, one of the more useful ones let them know if someone had called them while they hadn't been around to answer. And when that happened, the surface of the mirror became fogged, exactly like it was in that moment.

Curious, she tapped the mirror four consecutive times and four words appeared in the surface. Neville. Four hours ago. Now feeling more than a little curious and maybe a little bit apprehensive because Neville knew she was going to spend the full moon with Tyler, and she couldn't think of a single reason why he would call her so early in the morning, she proceeded to call him back.

It took Neville a moment too long before he answered and, when he did, he looked nervous and maybe a little bit spooked.

"Aria… Hi" he greeted her failing at expressing his usual smile "What's wrong?"

She frowned. "I feel I should be the one asking you that question, seeing as you were the one who called me four hours ago and you're also the one who looks like I'm being possessed or something"

Neville closed his eyes and, for a second, it looked like her usually proper best friend wanted to curse out loud. "Right, the mirror alerted you about it. I forgot…. Don't worry. It was nothing. Forget I called you."

She stared at him, unimpressed. There was nothing reassuring about Neville's little speech, not when he looked like he had swallowed a lemon "You have never been very good at lying to your loved ones, Nev. Tell me what's wrong."

He opened and closed her mouth several times, looking like he was fighting with himself over something. And just when she was about to demand to know what was happening, because it was obvious now that something was happening, he blurted out. "Have you had any strange visitors lately? From anyone you had not expected?"

"What? No." she answered, more confused with every second that passed "I just woke up after Tyler's first full moon…. What's going on, Nev?"

"Merlin, I completely forgot about that" Neville sighed, ignoring her completely and looking at the distance with a trouble expression. When he looked back at her, his expression was a weird mixed of resigned and resolute. "Everything is fine, Aria. There's nothing for you to worry about... I called you by mistake…. But- But, if you ever need, over whatever reason, I'll be there in a heartbeat. You're my best friend and I'll always support you."

"Why-"

"I need to go now" Neville said hastily, sending her a fleeting smile "but everything will be alright, okay? And don't forget what I said" and, just like that, he cut off the connection between them, leaving her staring at the surface of the mirror in plain bewilderment, wondering what the hell had happened.

Aria tried to call him again, but she didn't receive any response, and, after three more intents, she gave up for the moment and decided to move on with her plans for the day.

Despite her resolution, Aria was still wondering about their strange conversation sometime later, even when she needed to be focused over the extremely large pile of paperwork she had failed to complete in the last weeks. In her defense, between the preparations for the full moon, Teddy's arrival, and all her other commitments in Mystic Falls, she had hardly any time lately to sit down and do her paperwork. But the goblins weren't going to accept any of her excuses if she failed to complete her pending paperwork by the time the mailbox disappeared back to Gringotts the next day, and she would prefer avoiding annoying the Goblins ever again.

Sighing with anticipatory tiredness, she was about to grab the nearest piece of paperwork when she felt a tingling sensation at the back of her mind, signaling that someone was getting near to the wards of her house. She titled her head to the side, concentrating on her wards.

A vampire, she determined after a second. A very powerful one if the way the wards were flaring up was any indication.

A moment later, she heard it, as clear as if the person had been speaking directly to her ear. 'I mean no harm. Come here to talk peacefully' The message repeated itself, over and over again, making it impossible to ignore.

Straightening up in her chair with alarm, she considered all her options and the threat this mysterious vampire posed, before deciding she didn't gain anything by worrying and not doing anything. She closed her eyes, focused on the exact spot inside the wards from where the message was coming, and then apparated herself there.

Across from her, just outside her wards, stood a vampire with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and the handsome, young face of someone not older than twenty years old. But it was the waves of sheer magical power than seemed to roll from him that gave her pause, as well as the inexplicable feelings that seemed to rise inside of her at the sight of him.

There was a part of her, a part she couldn't explain, that seemed to recognize this vampire. And that made her more than a little wary of him. "Who are you?" she demanded with a frown "What do you want?"

The vampire rocked back on his heels, staring at her with an intensity than unnerved her. And then he smiled, sincere and almost glowing with happiness. "Hello, sister. Long time no see"

She stared wide-eyed at him, trying to make sense of his words. It couldn't possibly be that….

A heartbeat passed. Then another. And then… "I'm sorry, I think you must have mistaken me for someone else. I don't have any siblings" she said slowly, careful to keep her expression perfectly even. Too late, she realized that her words contradicted her cover story as Aria Black.

But she didn't have time to worry about that, no when the vampire next words sent her heart racing in alarm "I'm not talking of your life as Aria Potter, I'm talking about your life before-"

He never got his chance to finish his sentence.

In the instant she had heard her real name in the lips of this unknown and powerful vampire, she jumped into action. With the reflexes of someone who had been marked and persecuted as the enemy number one of the most powerful Dark Lord of the last centuries and who had somehow managed to live to reach her majority, she took out her wand and sent a dozen of curses his way.

Defense Against the Dark Arts had always been her specialty – the one thing besides flying everyone had agreed she was a prodigy on – and she had honed her dueling abilities with every battle and life-threatening situation she had managed to survive against Voldemort and his death eaters. But even after the war was over for good and her magical abilities had been amplified after she'd become the Master of Death, her paranoia had made sure she didn't slack in her training, so she had kept perfecting her abilities to make sure nobody could ever beat her.

She knew how good she was, how superior her magic and combat abilities were over most of the creatures in existence. Which made it even more shocking when none of that seemed to matter faced with this specific vampire.

He moved out of the way of every single one of her spells, so fast and precise that it almost seemed like he was reading her mind and anticipating her movements before she'd even finished thinking about them. And the most frustrating part was the fact that he didn't even seem worried about the situation. In fact, he was laughing in apparent delight as he danced around her spells.

"Good. Very good, sister" he praised her after she sent his way a chain of twenty, dark and borderline lethal, spells that she'd created with the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange in mind, and he did nothing but flickered past them as if it was nothing. "I approve this level of brutality. But try to bend your wrist slightly to the right, that way your spells are going to hit their target faster… Yes, exactly like that! Excellent, sister!"

There was a tiny part of her – a really, really, tiny part – that was enjoying their little duel, as well as his – shockingly – helpful commentary. After all, it had been years since she had fought against someone who represented a challenge in a duel, and even longer since she had met someone who seemed to love a good duel almost as much as she did. However, putting aside that tiny part of her, she was more than a little indignant about being patronized in such way. No one – not even Voldemort – had treated like that when they had fought against her.

And it irked her that this vampire – who wasn't her friend and didn't know her – had dared to act so familiarly with her.

(There was no way he knew her. He couldn't. It was impossible and she refused to think otherwise.)

But there was no denying that her strategy wasn't working, so she needed to considerate an alternate plan to make sure she beat him. And just like that, she remembered the spell she had been trying to create since her little encounter with Katerina Petrova in the old crypts.

The main problem of fighting vampires, she had discovered that day, was their bloody speed.

Wand-wielders could cast a curse or a shield if they knew they were in danger but, if they didn't know something was amiss, if they got distracted or, if they were outside of the safety of wards, an average vampire could snap their neck or rip their heart out before they knew what was happening. The sad reality was that, even with the added benefit of magic, a wand-wielder could easily become the prey of a vampire. And Aria had long since decided that she would never become the prey of anyone ever again.

That was why, after her encounter with Katerina, she had been trying to create a spell that wasn't limited by her human weaknesses.

The objective of the spell was to create a spirit guardian that would always exist, passively sleeping under normal circumstances and then activating itself as soon as it detected a hint of danger from a vampire. The guardian was meant to take an ice shape that was familiar to the caster but, regardless of its shape, it was supposed to be strong and fast enough to keep up with a vampire without a problem. There were downsides, of course. Because the complexity of the magic involved, the guardian could only protect – its caster – when a vampire attacked, so it would never intervene in any other circumstance. And it required massive amounts of magic, not only for its creation but also to feed it off every day even when it was asleep. Not to mention that the guardian would acquire some kind of awareness of its own, based on the caster's own feelings and experiences, so its attacks and defenses would be determined solely by it.

The spell wasn't redefined yet. There were things she still needed to adjust and modify. She hadn't even had the opportunity to cast the spell before that moment. And she was aware it could end up backfiring on her. But she was more than a little annoyed, and that always brought on her more reckless side to the surface.

So, she focused on her magical core – aware of the big amount of magic she would need to pour into the spell for it to work – and willed her magic to obey her command as she chanted. "Te voco, mea glacies defensorem. Veni ad me"

For a moment, there was nothing, and then, all of sudden, she felt her knees go weak as an enormous amount of magic was released from her core when a massive ice basilisk – though probably not as big as the one she had fought on the Chamber of Secrets – came out of her wand, his monstrous jaw opened and ready to attack while its enormous body coiled itself around her, serving as a shield in case of an unexpected attack.

Without any further orders from her, the basilisk threw itself at the vampire, capturing him with his body and making it impossible for him to move. And if it was strange that a guardian specifically created to attack and protect had only captured the vampire in front of her, and had done so without actually harming him, then she would attribute it to the fact that the spell hadn't been refined yet.

She refused to consider any other possibility.

For his part, the vampire did not seem to be worried about his capture, or the fact that the basilisk could crush him at any given moment with a single order from her. On the contrary, he seemed to be studying the ice guardian with a weird mix of fascinated delight and mad, clinical appreciation.

"You invented this spell" he said with a thoughtful hum after a moment "But while it's impressive as it is, you haven't perfected it yet. The final product is going to be a sight to behold."

Aria was so surprised she spoke without thinking. "What-? How do you know that?!"

"When wand-wielders cast a spell they invented themselves, the magic on them is an exact replica of the inner magic of the caster. And while the magic in this basilisk is the same as yours, it's also raw and almost disoriented… So, if I had to bet, I would say the only reason the spell worked at all was your sheer force of will" he explained, looking directly at her eyes "Still, for the first try on a new spell this powerful, the result is incredibly impressive, even by your standards"

It took a few seconds for her mouth to close. "Who are you?" she demanded once more "Why do you talk to me as if we know each other?"

"My name is Kol" he said after a long moment of consideration "And of course I know you. You are my sister."

"I think we have already established I don't have any siblings" she pointed out, dryly.

"You always be my sister" he said, firm and resolute. A second later, the intensity gave away to curiosity. "A moment ago, what did I say that spook you enough to attack me? The fact that I implied you have been reincarnated? Or because I knew your real name?"

Aria scowled, ignoring the reincarnation bit for the moment. "Nobody should know my real name. I made sure of that."

"You were very thorough" he assured her with an approving nod "The only reason we connected the dots is that we know you so well"

"We?" she demanded with a raised eyebrow.

"The rest of our family and I" Kol admitted, studying her once more with all too knowing eyes "…Interesting. You knew this wasn't your first life"

"Please. I'm only ignoring the ramblings of an obvious mad and delirious vampire" she offered with a huff, lifting her chin in a silent challenge.

Kol snorted, visibly amused. "My questionable sanity aside…. I know you better than I know myself, and that includes all your little tics and expressions. This means that, right now, I can see you're just putting a front and trying to ignore what you know is true. This isn't your first life, and you know that for a fact, but the topic makes you uncomfortable enough that you're trying to avoid it at any costs."

His eyes were too knowing and sincere for his words to be false, not when he'd hit spot on in everything he had said. But while there was a part of her that wanted to trust him completely and without question, the rest of her wasn't ready to let her guard down around someone who had appeared out of nowhere and whom she didn't know anything about. Especially when he claimed to have known her, to have been her brother in another life, and she didn't have a way to confirm this.

Not when she only remembered her previous lives when she was dreaming, and when reading his mind was out of the question. He was too powerful, and had too much knowledge over magic, for his mind to be as unprotected as Katerina's has been.

"I wasn't lying when I came here, you know?" Kol said after a long pause, cutting her off her thoughts with his words and the genuine warm in them "You're my sister. My favorite person in the world. I would never even dream on harming you. I- I just wanted the chance to know you again."

"How am I supposed to believe you? The last person who claimed to have known me in a previous life tried to have me as their snack"

For the first time since she had met him, Kol's face contorted in pure, unadulterated rage. "That backstabbing whore Katerina dared to attack you?"

By this point, she wasn't surprised anymore by how much knowledge he seemed to have about everything. So, she simply shrugged her shoulders. "To be fair, I was the one who attacked her first." She admitted "And she'll probably never dare to put her fangs on me again after everything I did to her after she attacked me the first time"

Kol didn't look particularly satisfied with that. "Is she still alive?"

"In a manner of speaking"

"Good" he decided, grinning in a way that promised blood and pain "I want to play with her before her time is up"

She stared at his bloodthirsty expression, going over the images and pieces of conversations she had gleamed in Katerina's head, and wondered what she had done to deserved. And then she understood. "She betrayed you once" she realized "And someone you loved got hurt."

"Katerina is good at doing that" he agreed with a significant look in her direction that she skillfully ignored. He huffed. "What do you need?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you need me to do to prove myself to you?" he demanded.

"Trust doesn't work like that"

"Maybe not…. But there should be something I can do for you to take me seriously" he insisted.

It would have been easy to say there was nothing he could do, to insist he removed himself from her property so she could not see him again. To ignore it all and go back to her house and spend the rest of her day with her kids as if nothing was amiss. It would have been easy. But if she did that, there would always be a part of her that wondered what could have happened if things had gone differently.

And she would know that it was her cowardice which stopped her from finding out.

She sighed, meeting his brown eyes with her emerald one's. "Answered me something truthfully and I would take you seriously"

"Anything" he promised, looking completely serious once more.

"What do I mean to you?" Aria asked in a whisper "Why are you so insistent on knowing me despite the fact you know I don't remember you?"

For what felt like an eternity after that, he didn't say a single thing, staring at her with the same intensity he had done when she had appeared in front of him for the first time.

"There was a boy once who didn't quite fit with the rest of his family and village… He wasn't the perfect hunter his father wanted him to be, and his mother didn't find anything about him remarkable enough to make her pay attention to him, not when the little time she had was already spent with the rest of her children. He wasn't the dutiful, honorable, or creative person his older brothers wanted him to be. Actually, he was too wild for all his siblings, even for his younger siblings who laughed at his jokes but never wanted to get involved in his antics for fear of getting into trouble. He was a prodigy in Wiccan magic in a time and place when that kind of magic was considered a woman's craft, so everyone in the village thought there was something not entirely right about him for loving magic so much…. There was only one person who accepted the boy wholly as he was and without any kind of reservation, and that person was his favorite sister, his best friend, his twin, and the other part of his soul."

She let a long exhale, already affected by the raw honesty and vulnerability on his eyes. "His twin?"

Kol smiled. "In a manner of speaking… Biologically, she was his first cousin, but her father died fighting before she was born and her mother died in childbirth, so his parents decided to raise her as if she was one of their children. Curiously, she and the boy were born in the same day so, for as long as the both of them remembered, they were always together" He paused "They used to joke they were the two parts of the same souls, separated at womb and-"

"-reunited at birth" she completed, the words tumbling out of her mouth without conscious thought.

"Yeah, exactly like that" he agreed with a soft smile "You want to know why I care so much about getting to know you? Because you were the only constant in my life. No matter what we went through, or what crazy, immoral things I did, you always remained by my side. You were the one who made me realize my life hadn't ended just because I became a monster with no access to my magic powers. Thanks to you and your unconditional support, I know more about magic than almost every other magical creature in existence… You were my best friend, my confidant, my voice of reason, my partner in crime, the one who had my back even when I didn't deserve it, my favorite person in the whole world, and when you died, it felt like I had been ripped apart into a thousand pieces, with no way of putting those pieces back together in something that didn't resemble a broken mess… And probably the only reason I didn't end my existence after your death was because I knew you were going to come back to life."

Aria took a long, fortifying breath at his words. "You knew I was going to be reincarnated?"

"I made sure of it" Kol declared with a single nod "It took me centuries to create a ritual that would make sure you were going to be reincarnated after your death, but it was worth it… Because you're right here in front of me once more and that's all I have wanted for centuries."

"But I'm not the same person you remember" she argued "I've lived a completely different life and those experiences are the ones that made me who I am today. I am my own person, Kol. And that person doesn't remember the bond you shared in another life."

Kol shrugged. "I've lived long enough to know that the core of a person can't ever be changed, no matter what. Maybe there are things that are different about you, maybe some of your views have changed, but at the core of it all, what made you the person I loved the most back then remains the same." A pause and then "I would really like the opportunity to get to know this version of you, sister dearest."

Aria considered him and his words for a long moment, weighing everything he had said, and not said, so far, as well as her feelings on the matter. And then, with a single movement, she cancelled her spell, vanishing the ice guardian and freeing Kol from his bounds. "My name is Aria Dorea Potter-Black, and I refuse to live in a path created for me by someone else, including if that someone is a past version of me." she declared fiercely. After Voldemort and the prophecy, after Dumbledore and his plans for the Greater Good, and the effect all of it had on her life growing up, to do anything else would be a betrayal to the person she had become. "That said, I think I would like the chance to get to know you, Kol, and see where we'll go from there."

Kol smiled, relived and sincere. "I would like nothing more."

She nodded, accepting his words without questioned them further. If this was going to work, she needed to try to let her guard down. And that meant… "Kreacher" she called him, still staring back at Kol.

Her elf popped by her side instantly, and she was surprised by his lack of sneer in Kol's direction. "Is Mistress needing Kreacher?"

"Has Tyler awoken already?"

Kreacher nodded. "Kreacher just finished giving him his potion as Mistress asked"

"Then tell him he should go eat his lunch with Caroline and Teddy" she ordered "Tell him I'm meeting someone, and I would catch up with them in a couple hours."

After everything he had said, she was willing to put a little of her trust in Kol, enough for her to try and get to know him. But she could not forget how powerful he truly was, how easy he had outmaneuvered in a duel, and how much more vulnerable her three kids were in comparison to her.

Aria was willing to try trusting Kol. But she wasn't ready to do so with anything related to her children.

Not when an error in her judgment could mean their deaths.

"Kreacher will be doing what Mistress asked" the elf promised. He paused and threw a furtive glance towards the vampire silently waiting – and listening – outside the wards of their home. "Does Mistress want Kreacher to prepare a light meal for her and the Old One?"

Both of her eyebrows shot up towards her hairline, taken aback by the way he was referring to Kol and, more importantly, his tone of voice when he had done so. It wasn't the tone of devotion he used when he was talking about Regulus or her, or the grudging fondness he expressed towards for Teddy, and was beginning to have for Caroline and Tyler. It wasn't even the approval he had shown towards Blaise, Narcissa Malfoy and any other pureblood from a dark family with a status high enough to be considered respectable by Kreacher's standards.

No, if anything, his tone resembled the grudging respect with which he had talked about Neville before Aria had managed to gain Kreacher's loyalty. Back then, everyone on the Order – including Sirius, Tonks, and she who all carried Black blood in some portion – had received nothing but comments filled with contempt and repulse.

Everyone except Neville.

Neville Longbottom, heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, and a pureblood ancestry that no even Walburga Black would have managed to scoff at. His blood had been considered pure enough that nobody had ever dared to consider him a blood traitor, not even when his parents and he had actively fought against Voldemort. And because of that Kreacher had never dared to insult him or threat him with anything less than respect. It had been grudging respect, but respect none the less.

And his tone back then was almost the exact same as the one he had used when he'd referred to Kol.

Aria raised an eyebrow towards the vampire in a silent question and received a silent nod back. "We would love to eat anything you prepare for us, Kreacher" she promised.

"Kreacher would do his best to please his Mistress and the Old One" he declared before vanishing with a pop.

"Old One?"

"Some magical creatures refer to my siblings and I as such" Kol said, shrugging his shoulders with apparent innocence.

"And why would they decided to address you like that?" she pressed, feeling like she was missing something.

It was a feeling she had been experiencing since their conversation started.

Kol had been sincere in everything he had said, she was more than a little sure about that, but there was something that didn't quite add up in the things he had said. Something about the way he had said she had always been by his side even though she'd clearly been human, and he was a vampire even older than Katerina. Or the way he had said it'd taken him centuries to create the ritual that had allowed her to be reincarnated but also said the only reason he had gone on after her death was because he'd already known she was going to be reborn someday.

It simply didn't add up.

Kol rocked back and forth in his heels, considering her with knowing eyes. "Are sure you want to know? I'm trying to not freak you out here. If I make you run for the hills our siblings might actually kill me, and Nik will probably string me up and bleed me dry over and over again for eternity"

She titled her head to the side, considering him in return. "Are you- are you trying to distract me with all the mentions of violence?"

His brown eyes widened in surprise for a second and then he smirked, visibly delighted. "I was" he admitted, looking almost impressed "But it seems it didn't work"

"Mentions of violence and blood don't distract me. They were a part of my daily life for too long to make me so much as blink."

"I'll remember that" he promised, not saying anything more.

She huffed an exasperated breath. "I'm going to keep insisting about it, you know"

"I know, which makes it all the more annoying because I can't think of a single reason why I should deny you the truth besides the fact that none of our siblings are going to like it"

"Right now, I don't care about them" she admitted "But if telling me is going to cause you trouble, then maybe it's for the best if you don't say anything. I can figure it out on my own."

For some reason, her words made Kol straighten up with a frown. "I don't care about getting into trouble with them, no when I've been doing that since I was a child." He paused for a second and then extended his hand, letting it hang an inch away from the wards. "My name is Kol Mikaelson and I'm one of the Original Vampires. It's a pleasure to see you again, sister"

Stunned, she stared at him, trying to comprehend his words and what they meant for her.

Because, suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense, from the way Kreacher had addressed him, to the things that hadn't added up in his explanation, to the way a part of her had known him in the instant she had first seen him. Because it wouldn't have made sense if he had been just another vampire and she would have been just another human mortal. But if he was an Original, and he considered her his sister and said she'd always been by his side until she'd died, then maybe her not-aging problem was something she'd possessed in her previous life as well.

Death had once said she had proven herself to him through the last millennia, and she had always assumed that meant she'd lived through different lives in the course of that time. But maybe he had referred to a single human life that had lasted centuries. A life she had apparently lived by the side of the Original Vampires.

And that could mean only one thing.

"I was a witch in my previous, right?" she said, not really asking.

Judging by Kol's sardonic smile, he understood what she refused to say out loud. "You were" he confirmed, still holding his hand suspended in the air "And you were also known by a special and unique title that could only be used to describe you"

"The Immortal Witch" she whispered, still half-hoping he was going to tell her she was insane.

"The Immortal Witch" he confirmed with a solemn nod.

She let out a long exhale – her thoughts were a jungle mess she definitely didn't want to solve anytime soon so she was going to shove it behind her Occlumency shields for the time being – and focused on the vampire in front of her.

Aria didn't have to think too much about it before she was moving, extending her hand across the wards to shake the hand he still had hanging in the air. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kol" she said, and it didn't feel like she was lying. She considered it for a second and then gave the wards a mental order to let him in as a guest. "Please, come in"

Smiling, he crossed the invisible ward line that had separated them all that time until he was by his side. "Let the way to your house, sister" he said, offering her his arm like a gentleman.

"This way" she said, taking his arm without hesitation and leading him straight towards the mansion.


&&&/08/&&&


Their luck had seemed to go from bad to worse since the night before, Stefan decided as he helped Rose chain a struggling and almost rabid Damon up in their basement.

"Is this really necessary?" Elena asked from her position on the doorway. She appeared calm and collected but Stefan could detect her apprehension in the erratic beating of her heart, and even under the layer of her clothing and the bandages Rose had put on her, he could still smell the fresh blood from the wound Damon had inflected on her when he had attacked her almost an hour before.

Honestly, Stefan was still reeling over everything that had happened since the night before.

First, it had been the surprise werewolf attack. Stefan had known after his encounter with Mason that, during the full moon, he was no match for a werewolf. He had known that the only reason he'd survived that night was because Aria Black had decided to intervene and save him. And he hadn't wanted to face another werewolf anytime soon after that. But then his brother had gone and confronted Jules when she'd arrived in town searching for Mason, and she had decided to attack them as a wolf. They had not been a match for her, not even when the two of them had team up against her.

Then Elijah and his brother Kol had shown up, turning everything upside down. On one hand, they had taken care of killing Jules, saving them in the process. But, on the other hand, two new and incredible more powerful enemies and threats to Elena had appeared and they got no idea how to deal with them, or even if it was possible to kill them. Rose seemed to believe they were invincible, but Stefan refused to give up. He would not give up until he found a way to guarantee the girl he loved didn't need to be sacrificed.

Especially because Stefan had hated the sadistic enjoyment Kol had gotten out of killing Jules and then torture Damon. It'd been obvious for everyone in the room that he had attacked them in the way he'd done so to maximize the pain they would feel, and Stefan would never be able to trust a deal made with someone like Kol, who only seemed to care about hurting and killing others. Someone so much like the Reaper at its worst.

Elijah – for all his calm exterior and polite behavior – was no more trustworthy, no when he had let his brother do as he wanted, and he'd even broken Stefan's neck to stop him from attacking him when he was unable to sit back and watch how his brother was tortured by Kol.

They would never trust the Original Vampires, Stefan had decided as soon as he'd woken up after his broken neck had finished healing, no matter how much Elena had insisted that maybe their offer wasn't so unreasonable. They just needed to use the time Elijah had given his girlfriend to make other plans and ensure Elena was protected, Stefan had decided the night before. That was why he'd called an emergency meeting in the Boarding House before Elena, Bonnie, and the rest of them needed to go to school.

But instead of finding a solution for their problems, things had gone from worse to incredibly worse.

Because when Elena and Stefan had gone looking for Damon in his room after he'd failed to show up to the meeting, they hadn't found his brother, they had found an out-of-control and almost rabid vampire who had attacked Elena as soon as he had laid eyes on her. And it hadn't taken them long to discover the werewolf bite – looking like an infected wound that wouldn't heal no matter what they did - on his brother's body.

"It's necessary until we find a cure for the bite" he answered Elena tersely, not enjoying seeing his brother chained and struggling against the wall when he wasn't on his right mind, especially when it wasn't his fault.

"The effects should recede for a while" Rose informed them, pursing her lips "I had only seen other two vampires succumb to the werewolf bite and a large amount of blood should help to clear his mind for a few hours, but it'll lessen its effects as more time goes by."

"And are you sure you don't know a cure?" he pressed.

"I told you already, I don't know what the cure is." she answered with a frown "But one of the two vampires who got bitten was saved when the Originals intervened. They never told us what they did but the vampire was completely healthy the next day."

"Then is possibly that the cure is something related with magic" Stefan guessed, turning in the direction of Bonnie, who had remained quiet for most of their exchange in favor of going over her family grimoire. "Have you found anything yet, Bonnie?"

"I can't find anything that might be of use" the witch said, shaking her head in frustration "And I don't think I will. I had gone over it a hundred times in the past and I'd never see anything related to a werewolf bite."

"Maybe if we ask-"

"There's no grimoire in existence that records the cure for the werewolf bite on a vampire" a smooth and familiar voice said from behind them, making Stefan turn around in alarm.

"What are you doing here, Elijah?" he demanded, rattled by his unexpected visit.

The Original Vampire ignored him in favor of crossing the distance towards Damon and analyzing him with alarming attention. "Miss Gilbert called me here" he said, almost distracted as he continued to peer at his older brother.

"Elena!" he protested, turning towards his girlfriend "We agreed we wouldn't involve them in this"

"We haven't been able to find anything useful, Stefan" she protested, beautiful and fierce as a goddess. "We need their help"

"You most certainty do" Elijah agreed, calmy walking towards them "The venom has advanced quickly. He has another day at most before he succumbs to the infection"

"You don't know that!"

"Are you sure we have so little time?"

"What makes you so sure no grimoire has the answer to this?"

Stefan', Elena' and Bonnie's voice interloped over one another, as the three of them tried to talk at the same time. But Elijah didn't seem to care about it. "I have seen an innumerable number of vampires succumb to the werewolf bite, and that means I know all the stages of the infection" he declared, his tone perfectly even "And I'm sure no grimoire has recorded anything about the cure because the only ones who are aware of the secret are the members of my family"

"So, you could help Damon" Elena declared, advancing towards the original.

"For a price" Elijah agreed, his attention once again solely on his girlfriend, which made him more than a little annoyed. "And you already know what we are going to demand of you"

"You want me to be a willing sacrifice to break the curse" she nodded, not looking scared at the prospect. Elena only looked determinate.

"We did promise we would guarantee the safety of your loved ones" Elijah nodded.

Stefan pursed his lips, resisting the urge to tell Elena to stop considering making a deal with the devil. He couldn't risk her life. He wouldn't be able to survive her death…. But if she didn't do it, his brother could die. And he wasn't sure which of the options terrified him more.

"Your life is not worth Damon's, Elena!" Bonnie protested, incensed "We don't even know if he's telling the truth about the cure!"

"I have to try-" Elena started to say, cutting herself off when a phone started to ring.

Surprised, they all turned in the direction of the sound and found Elijah taking out his phone with a little frown between his eyebrows. "Rebekah, I'm the middle of something right now" he said, as soon as he answered.

"This is more important" a young and feminine voice said at the other end of the line.

"I am in a meeting with the doppelganger and-"

"Ingrid has a son" the girl – another Original Vampire? – declared in a rush, cutting him off. "Did you hear me, Elijah? Ingrid has a son"

In all the encounters Stefan had had with Elijah, he'd never seen without his perfect composure. Even when he had been fighting, he had always look perfectly put together. And that made his current shocked expression all the more telling. Whoever Ingrid was, the fact that she had a son represented big and surprising news for the older vampire.

For a second, his mask was broken, and his surprise turned into pure, unadulterated delight. For that single second, there was nothing but joy on the Original Vampire's expression. And then the second passed, and the expression was smothered behind his neutral mask once more.

But Stefan had seen it. And that second had been enough to tell him the indestructible vampire had a soft spot. One that maybe all the Original Vampires shared. And one that they could exploit to their benefit.

(If Stefan hadn't been so focused on Elijah, he would have seen the expression on Rose's face at the news, and he would have realized something else too.)

"I'll call you in three minutes" Elijah told the girl on the phone, quickly cutting off the call. Towards Elena, he turned with a placid smile that Stefan didn't believe, no after seeing his expression a minute before. "It seems I have some family matter I must attend at once… You have my number, Miss Gilbert. Do call me when you have reached a decision"

And before any of them could say anything, the older vampire vanished from the basement as he had never been there in the first place.

"What just happened?" Elena demanded with a confused frown, turning towards him in search for answers. At her side, even Bonnie turned in his direction, obviously curious about Elijah's sudden departure.

The only one who wasn't looking at him was Rose, who had turned her back on them in favor of adjusting Damon's chains. Of course, as she was also a vampire with super hearing, it was understandable that she wouldn't be interested in a retelling of something she already knew.

"I think" Stefan said slowly, as an idea started to grow in his head "That I just found out a way to neutralize the Originals and guarantee their help in obtaining the cure"

They only would need to exploit their weak spot.


&&&/08/&&&


Since he had activated his curse, there had been a part of Tyler that had been terrified of not surviving his first full moon. His fears had been diminishing the more time he'd spent with Aria and the more reassurances he got that she knew what she was doing and would make sure everything turned out alright. But his fears hadn't disappeared, at least not completely.

So that day, when he woke up with all the memories of the night before still vividly replaying in his head, with more sore muscles than ever before but alive and without any other indication of having spent a whole night turned into a wolf, Tyler lied in his bed on the bedroom he'd picked on Aria's house and laughed, long and hard and a little hysteric, but so relieved that it was over.

He could do this – Tyler realized, so full of relief he could drown in it – he could survive the transformation. He could.

Sometime after his laughter had died down, Kreacher popped into his room with a smelling-looking potion. "Mistress told Kreacher to give you this" he said, frowning as he always did, passing him the cup.

"What's this?" he asked, eyeing the cup dubiously.

His experience with the potions of the magical world had taught him that, while they were incredibly useful, most of them tasted something nasty.

"A pain-relieving potion"

"Oh" he said, touched, as he realized Aria didn't want him in any sort of pain, even if was nothing he couldn't handle. With a smile, he drank the whole potion, ignoring the awful taste.

Instantly, the pain in his sore muscles vanished as if it had never been there, making him feel as good as new. It was incredible.

"Where are Aria, Teddy, and Caroline?"

"Mistress is-" Kreacher paused, tilting his head to the side as Aria did when she heard something in the wards none of them could hear and then vanished without another world.

Frowning, Tyler got to his feet and decided to get ready for the day. He would go looking for them himself, he decided. He was exiting the bathroom when Kreacher appeared, demanding him to go eat with Caroline and Teddy in town because Aria was in a super important meeting with someone 'too above your station, wolf'.

After dealing with Kreacher for a few weeks, his words didn't face him as much as they had at the beginning, so he simply nodded his head and followed his instructions. Because whoever Aria was meeting at the moment, and whatever they were discussing, it was probably something incredibly important if she couldn't even tell him about it herself. Tyler would go look for Teddy and Caroline and, after they ate a giant lunch – he was starving as he'd never had before – they would come back and find out what had happened.

Fifteen minutes and few text messages later, and Tyler was making his way towards the Grill, where Caroline had confirmed Teddy and she were already eating.

"You better order me a big, fucking burger, Care. And it needs to be my favorite." he grumbled, texting back at her "Or I'm not going to forgive you for going to eat with Teddy without me."

He was so focused on his phone that he didn't realize he was being followed until he was surrounded by all sides. He paused, his eyes going from one person to the next, trying to control his inner wolf, who seemed to want nothing more than snarl at the people around him.

"I don't know who you are" Tyler said, giving them his best cocky smile "But I suggest you all to me leave me be. I don't want any trouble and I don't think you want to get on my bad side"

Instead of backing away as he had hoped, the group laughed at his world. "I think this one is as cocky as Mason" the one on the front decided with a chuckled.

Tyler's eyes went wide, suddenly understanding why his wolf seemed to be reacting as he was doing. "You are all part of my uncle's pack"

"Got it in one" the apparent leader agreed, advancing until he was in front of him "Your uncle didn't tell us you were also a wolf"

"He didn't know" he said, shrugging his shoulders as if it was nothing. "Besides, it's not like it matters"

"Of course it does" the leader contradicted, smiling winningly at him "You're Mason's nephew. You belong with us in our pack."

All his hackles were raised at the mere suggestion of being pack with these guys. "Thanks but no thanks," he said, walking past him without the intention of stopping. However, a hand shot up and grabbed his arm before he could walk more than a few steps. "Hey! Let go!" he protested, infuriated.

"You stink of vampire" the leader hissed, his previous smile completely vanished.

"That's none of your business!" he spat, trying to get free from his grasp. "Let go!"

"Mason was killed by vampires and Jules, another one of us, was killed last night by the vampires of this town. Vampires are nothing but bloodthirsty pests that need to die!" the leader spat back "Of course is one of our businesses if someone of our pack is mixing himself with them!"

"I told you already" Tyler growled, incensed "I'm not part of your pack! I have a pack of my own already, and it just happens that a vampire is part of it!"

The eyes of the leader turned yellow as his face contorted with rage. And then, before he could defend himself, he threw Tyler into the wall with all his strength. Before he could recover himself, someone hit him in the head, making him stumble over his own feet.

Another hit, this time stronger, and Tyler fell to the ground, unconscious.


What do you think? Let me know!