Author's note: This is a sequel to Chapter 82: Part 9 - Klarosummer Bingo Prompt: "So, can we turn this into a Weekend at Bernie's situation?" As Klaus' fixer, Caroline navigates the volatile waters of supernatural politics. However, she faces her biggest challenge yet when it's time to select the next alpha of a troublesome pack (while pretending she didn't help Klaus cover up the murder of the current alpha).
More political conflicts should be settled with beheadings. While Caroline had staged countless bloodless coups in human politics for years, being a fixer in the supernatural community presented a completely different set of challenges. "I've told the social media team to gradually scale back the sightings we've been staging for the former alpha of the Mystic Falls pack." Glaring at Klaus over her laptop, she grumbled, "Of course, we wouldn't have to do any of this if someone hadn't beheaded the alpha before their hybrid armies were in place."
"Nonsense, love. The beheading was perfectly timed," Klaus replied, sending her a seductive little smirk.
Damn it. She did not find that attractive at all. She was not a boss-banger. That one night before she signed her contract absolutely did not count. "That's what I'd say too if I was a premature beheader."
He chuckled, shaking his head. "That delightful wit of yours was completely wasted on human politics. However did you manage among such dullards?"
"Snob," she replied fondly, accessing her task list and checking off several items with a gleeful smile. "And I'm human, remember? It's easier to blend when you're one of them."
Klaus scoffed, leaning back in his chair to cheekily plop his heavy boots on the desk between them. "You blend seamlessly in my world and you know it. Perhaps I should remind you," he rumbled deep in his chest, his seductive accent doing its damnedest to distract her.
"Nope," Caroline cheerfully retorted, hiding behind her laptop screen to avoid his possessive gaze. Despite her irritation, she could admit they worked well together; from covering up the murder of the Mystic Falls pack alpha to subsequently staging a scandal that led to his convenient downfall via social media, it was the sort of ruthless takeover that Caroline lived for.
Through her connections, she'd covertly positioned dimwitted Tyler Lockwood as the favorite to become the next alpha. Self-centered and weak-willed, he'd be the perfect figurehead for Klaus to manipulate, ultimately leading to the Original Hybrid ruling one of the most powerful packs in the south. "I've thoroughly researched the pack's traditions, and we'll be able to manipulate the ritual that the next alpha must pass."
"It's ludicrous Tyler needs any magical interference. A true alpha easily could manage."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "And if Tyler was a true alpha, we wouldn't be able to manipulate him or his pack." Consulting her notes once more, she explained, "The venison feast ritual occurs when the pack's healer butchers a deer and goes into a trance. The pack's sacred symbols will appear on the next alpha that their ancestors choose. Fortunately, the local coven we have on retainer has developed a spell to steer the healer's visions so that the symbols will appear on Tyler."
Klaus eagerly walked around to her side of the desk, leaning over her shoulder to scan the hex ingredients the coven leader had emailed Caroline. "Impressive," he murmured, although his tone was skeptical when he asked, "But has the coven been able to test out the spell? Any guarantee they offer is bollocks without proof."
"Seriously?! Do you even know me? Obviously, I had them test out their spell. They managed to flip all four senate seats — and you know the kind of dark magics that are invoked in a typical election year."
He chuckled, dimples framing his smirk as he observed, "What a magnificent creature you are. I humbly withdraw my question."
Caroline turned to snap at him, swallowing a small gasp when she realized how close he'd become. Fuck. He always made her blush when he looked at her like that. Needing to regain control of the conversation before she did something stupid like make out with her boss, she snapped, "Aren't you running late? Shouldn't you be on a call terrorizing Marcel's nightwalkers right about now?"
"I can be a few minutes late."
Rolling her eyes, she said, "No, the correct answer is, 'I'm off to have a civilized business meeting with my constituents and will not use any of the negative behaviors we've discussed because I'm a reformed ruthless hybrid dictator asshat.'"
"I best be off then," Klaus replied with an impish wink, "As I recall, one of these so-called negative behaviors was tardiness. And I wouldn't want to disappoint my favorite teacher."
There was just something about this pack that made Caroline want to snarl. She'd sent Klaus off with strict instructions not to threaten to eat anyone while she met with some of the members to oversee the ritual set up and welcome banquets. She hadn't expected much from the Mystic Falls pack, and sadly, they did not disappoint. They hadn't even completed her pre-checklist assignments! All that color-coding had been wasted on them (and yes, she checked ahead of time to ensure that werewolves actually could see color — she wasn't an insensitive asshole.)
She wasn't able to relax until it was time to light the ceremonial bonfires that the alpha candidates would walk between to purify them for the rituals. With an irritated sigh, she noticed the pack omegas weren't properly tending one of the fires and it would ruin the whole effect, so she hastily pushed them out of the way to add more cedar branches. She breathed in the aroma, feeling oddly calm. As a city girl, she'd never given much thought to small-town living, but she couldn't deny the tranquil mood that washed over her the deeper into the forest they'd traveled.
When she finally returned to the receiving line, Klaus sauntered over, leaning in to whisper, "You just can't help yourself, can you?"
"Incompetence makes me itchy." She frowned when she realized her skin actually was tingling. Fuck. The last thing she needed was a poison ivy rash. Especially when she was expected to get on a video call with the Strix later today and Elijah likely didn't forgive rashes any more than tardiness. Even the stick up his ass wore a suit.
She barely held back a snort of derision when she spied Tyler stroll past the fires, puffed up like a peacock as he winked at several of his swooning pack members. Obviously, Klaus' carefully orchestrated conversations with him the past few weeks gave him an overinflated sense of importance. He paused briefly in front of her, the hint of a smug grin touching his lips as he murmured her name.
Klaus let out a warning growl that immediately set her own teeth on edge. "Calm down," she hissed under her breath, "we're supposed to be making friends."
Mason, another alpha candidate as well as Tyler's uncle, must have overheard her, because he flashed her a quick smile, keeping his gaze on her a bit longer than was considered polite given the seriousness of the ritual. Normally, that jawline would be enough to capture her attention, but that was before she learned what stubble and a pair of dimples could do.
If Klaus noticed Mason's brief flirtation, he wisely stayed silent, and Caroline was pleased to see that the pack members seemed to be accepting his presence better than anticipated. While the pack wasn't as malleable as Klaus had hoped, the inroads Caroline had made, not to mention their insatiable curiosity about the Original Hybrid, meant that their subtle takeover of this pack was right on schedule.
She could admit to herself that she felt guilty about the third alpha candidate, a fierce wolf named Jules. The rest of the pack seemed to bow their heads even further for her than they did the two men — a mark of respect that pleased Caroline. The Mystic Falls pack wasn't known to be especially progressive, and the wolves could benefit from a powerful female leader. But Caroline served her boss' ambition almost as well as her own. She steadily met Jules' gaze, the bonfires' flames intensifying as she felt uncomfortably warm.
The wolves eagerly greeted the three potential alphas, chanting and stomping their feet and they embraced. Klaus clapped next to her, his calculating gaze clearly assessing his future soldiers. Trading a quick glance with him, Caroline quietly slipped away to confirm last-minute details with the coven while the pack was distracted.
There really wasn't an appropriate facial expression to wear while watching the pack's healer drink deer blood from the hunters' prized kills. She tried looking politely interested, and then stoic, and finally settled for respectfully blank. Weirdly, she couldn't seem to turn away as she watched her tear chunks of flesh from its heart. She was witnessing something very primal, and when Klaus impulsively reached for her hand, she didn't feel like an awkward human outsider in his world.
The pack all eagerly watched the alpha candidates, waiting to see which one the ancestors would choose to be the next alpha. The healer had started her trance now that the sacred symbols had been drawn, and soon they would appear on the alpha's body to seal the covenant with their ancestors. Tyler preened under the attention, and again Caroline was baffled that she found someone more gullible than the pharmaceutical lobbyists she conned when she worked in human politics.
Fortunately, Mason and Jules had amassed only a few wolves' support, which easily could be quelled once Tyler's reign was secured. This would be the easiest takeover they'd ever orchestrated. She subtly swept her gaze over Tyler's exposed arms and chest, waiting for the symbols to appear. She and Klaus glanced at each other, shrugging when their puppet alpha's skin remained disappointingly bare. It was a nice view, but nothing they hadn't seen before. And certainly wouldn't secure the loyalty of the Mystic Falls pack.
A sudden sharp sting made her hiss, and she lifted her blouse, watching in disbelief as jagged red lines crawled across her belly.
The Mystic Falls pack symbols had carved themselves into Caroline's flesh.
