Chapter 18

"It can't be… Are you sure of what you saw?" Alaric's eyes were wide, but his brow hung low in disbelief at what the three girls were telling him.

"No, daddy. All three of us ate some bad mushrooms and now we're seeing things." Lizzie rolled her eyes at her father's obstinance.

"Look, Dr. Saltzman, there's no question about it. It's…" Hope paused and glanced at her feet. "It's not the first time I've seen her eyes do that."

"It's not the first time and you didn't think it a good idea to perhaps tell me?!" Alaric nearly shouted at Hope and she could sense his anger, causing her to wince.

"Wait, when else did you see her eyes do that?" Jade chipped in from the side, understandably also concerned about the new development regarding the girl she was seeing.

"It was after your date." Hope stated simply without looking over to where Jade was standing to her side, rather keeping her eyes focused on Alaric.

"You mean her eyes went all wolfy when you tried to kiss her?" Lizzie smirked and arched a brow at the tribrid, who very suddenly flushed scarlet at the reminder that Lizzie basically interrupted a moment between her and Josie.

"You did what?!" Both Jade and Ric spat out at the same time, though where Ric was merely surprised, Jade was fuming.

"Don't start." Hope turned towards the vampire and stated very simply and clearly. "You went on one date. You have no claim."

"And you do?" Jade's eyes turned red, veins starting to pulsate beneath them just below the skin.

Hope answered by ways of her own eyes lighting up and shining a bright gold color as she stared up at the other girl. "Maybe I do." As soon as the words left her mouth, she was shocked at herself. Since when did she actually want to stake a claim on Josie Saltzman? It was almost as if the wolf inside of her took hold of her voice and uttered those words before she could even think about it.

"Do not start! This is my daughter we're talking about, and this is a real issue we are dealing with! I need help. I need information. I do NOT need raging teenage hormones!" Ric had had enough and expressed as much as his voice boomed through the office, leaving all three girls to blink down at their shoes.

(…)

Josie leaned back against the tree with a deep sigh, her fingers digging into the grass by her sides. Somehow the feeling grounded her and calmed her rampant emotions. The tangible feeling reminded her of where her body was and helped her focus on her tactile senses in order to keep her distracted from the overwhelming storm raging inside of her chest and her head.

She had no idea why she exploded the way she had at Hope and Jade. She still could not believe that she had acted that way and said those things to them. It just did not seem like her, like something she would do or say. She was just… so angry, so frustrated, so on edge about everything and she had no idea or explanation as to why.

The only thing she had been sure of when she stormed away was that she needed time and space to just breathe and reclaim herself again. She needed to make sure that she was still herself as there was a very deep-seated fear buried within the back of her mind that the darkness had not left her completely. What else could it be?

There was something strong inside of her and it wanted out.

Soon.

(…)

"It's not working." Lizzie groaned in frustration at the map on the table between her and Hope. They had been attempting a locator spell in order to find Josie as Alaric looked on, worried.

Hope let her one hand wave slowly over the map, a feint glow illuminating her skin for just a second or two. "She cast a cloaking spell. She doesn't want to be found."

"So now what?" Jade huffed irritably from the corner of the room.

"We need to divide our efforts. We have research to do and answers to find." Alaric said as he leaned onto his desk, seemingly trying to think of a plan of action. "Hope. Go find her." He finally uttered and nodded at the tribrid.

"Why her? I can go look for Josie." Jade chirped, again irritated at the fact that she's being sidelined.

"Josie needs to be found the good old-fashioned way." Alaric simply shrugged and craned his head towards Hope.

"Which is what exactly?" Jade grunted, disgruntled.

Hope grinned at the vampire, her eyes slowly flaring up in golden flames once more.

(…)

"Yes, I know Caroline." Alaric gripped the phone a little more tightly as he stared out the window, watching the sun start to sink beyond the horizon. Behind him and all around the office there were various stacks of books – some open, some still untouched, and others seemingly nothing but heaps of crumpled parchment.

"We're doing all we can on this end to try and find the answers… Yes… I know, but I think…" It seemed like Alaric and Caroline, the very worried mother of one Josette Saltzman, were struggling to see eye to eye on some matters. Ric's helpers, each with a book or two in hand, tried their best not to eavesdrop too much out of respect.

"Look, will you please just go there and see what you can find? Freya and Keelin might know something that we don't… Yes, please… Okay, bye." He hung up the phone with a frustrated sigh before spinning around and surveying his research team. Dorian and Kaleb were seated in one corner, each scouring through a heap of books, while Lizzie and MG occupied another corner, doing the same. Emma was busy scanning through an untouched bookcase, trying to find more resource material.

Jade was nowhere to be found.

(…)

Hope sniffed the air as she stood just outside the old mill. She had just shifted after finding Josie was not in her usual favorite spot and was trying to pick up her scent. She allowed her nose to sniffle through some of the leaves and twigs and dry earth until she thought she found a whiff of something. She allowed the smell to lead her further into the woods.

Her ears flickered when they picked up the sound of water. It wasn't a lot – more like a narrow trickling; a sort of bubbling and light splashing. She could smell the damp ground mixed with sweet flowers. She allowed the scent to lead her to a small stream.

That was strange. In all of her time spent at the Salvatore School and all of her time spent running around the woods, she had never noticed a stream flowing through the area.

Then she noticed the smell of flowers growing stronger, and it was laced with a more specific sweetly scent. It was the smell of flowers and fruit and soil after the rain. It was so natural and yet so intoxicating. It guided her further along the stream until she finally reached a massive willow tree, branches drooping into the water on one side, while the other side curtained the entry point into a clearing.

(…)

Josie could immediately feel the presence approaching her.

Looking up, she was both delighted and yet oddly apprehensive to find the white wolf of her dreams slowly creeping through the swooping branches of the willow and sneaking into the small clearing. It was dusk and the atmosphere all around them seemed to glow with gentle orange light. Josie thought that it was beautiful.

"Hey…" She whispered as Hope approached her, coming to sit in front of Josie with her ears pulled back and flattened against her head. The tall grass and small flowers rustled lightly in the wind all around them.

"I'm sorry about what I said to you. It was completely out of line." Josie spoke softly to the wolf before her. She removed the coat she had been wearing over her uniform and held it out and open towards the wolf, then turned her eyes away politely.

"Well, it was a little… surprising." Hope smirked as she pulled the coat on in order to cover herself post-shift. She hadn't quite thought through the logistics of her having to speak to Josie once she found her and having to shift back in order to do so. Luckily Josie instinctively knew how to help.

"I'm scared." Josie muttered softly as Hope settled in the grass before her, both of them having crossed their legs beneath them now and sat facing each other. "I don't know what's going on with me."

Hope sighed and carefully reached for Josie' hand, taking it and gingerly holding it within her own. "We're going to figure it out. Your dad has everyone doing research. He even said he was going to send your mom to New Orleans to try that angle with the help of my aunts."

"Am I changing? I mean, like… shifting? Is it possible to become a wolf?" Josie's voice was small and unsure; so different from the commanding tone she had showed earlier when she berated Hope and Jade.

"I really don't know Jo…" Hope tilted her head and studied Josie's face. She was clearly scared and all Hope wanted to do was take her into her arms and hold the younger girl until all of the doubts and fears had subsided. Seeing the pain in those dark doe eyes made Hope's chest ache. She just wanted to protect Josie from anything and everything that could hurt her, even if it wasn't physically possible.

"God, I'm turning out to be such a freak." Josie grunted and clenched her jaw, seemingly getting lost in her self-depreciation.

"A freak? What exactly would make you a freak?" Hope frowned as Josie pulled her hand away, leaving her skin to suddenly feel cold at the loss of contact.

"A witch-wolf hybrid? There has never been such a thing! I'd be like nature's accident." Josie was rapidly growing frustrated again. She was growing restless, inside and out. She pushed herself to her feet and started idly pacing as she mulled over her own words in her head.

"Jeez Jo, if that makes you a freak, then what the hell would you call me?" Hope scoffed and stood as well, starting to feel her own sense of agitation stir within her.

"But you being a tribrid makes sense, considering your family and heritage! Me changing into a wolf with no reason or explanation… especially being a witch… it's like…" Josie started talking with her hands as she paced faster, the lines on her features deepening with emotion. "I'm like an abomination, Hope! Already the fact that I'm a siphoner, and a Gemini twin, makes me of a questionable nature. Adding a wolf into the mix – I'll be shunned!"

"You talk about being a wolf like it's the worst thing in the world. You talk about wolves like they're second-rate citizens." Hope was hurt, and it flickered through her eyes as she stood, unmoving, staring at Josie.

"Wolves are violent and unpredictable! That's not who I am!" Josie was starting to panic, her heartrate rocketing through her chest and down her veins.

"Wolves are strong and intuitive. Wolves are probably the noblest of the three breeds that we have here at the school. It's a goddamn privilege to be a wolf and I'm sick and tired of wolves getting all the bad rep!" Hope's voice escalated as she grew defensive, Josie's sudden aversion to wolves offending her greatly. And just to add fuel to her fire, Hope's eyes lit up in their – by now – well-known golden color.

Josie stopped dead in her tracks. As soon as she saw Hope's eyes, her own immediately illuminated into wild flames of copper and honey. She stared at the tribrid so intensely that it seemed as if though she could burn holes right through her.

"Do you feel that?" Hope breathed hoarsely as she took a step closer to Josie.

Josie swallowed hard, but did not answer. Her gaze never wavered from Hope's as the other girl took another step closer.

"Do you feel how hungry she is? How eager to be let out?" Hope felt like she was burning up at the electrifying connection making itself known between them. She raised her hands to Josie's shoulders and slowly slid them down her bare skin, all the way to her hands. "Do you feel the itching beneath your skin? The tingling in your limbs?" She entwined their fingers and squeezed Josie's hands, almost as if she was trying to share the physical sensations that they were both experiencing in that very moment and multiply their intensity.

"Being a wolf is liberating…" Hope whispered, now standing firmly within Josie's personal bubble and leaning into her as she continued to speak. "It's freedom that you can't even imagine…" She let her one hand slip free from Josie's and moved it up to her neck, sliding her fingers into the side and feeling their skin grow scorching hot at the contact. "Shifting is like quenching a deep desire you didn't even know you had…" Her lips whispered against Josie's ear as her fingers moved further to comb into the thick brunet tresses at the back of Josie's neck.

"What's going on between us, Hope?" Josie managed to utter softly as her own hands moved, letting go of Hope's hand in order to let both hands move up to her neck instead, cupping her jaw on each side gently, yet firmly. Josie could feel her whole body was on fire, being drawn to Hope like she had never experienced before. When their eyes had met like that it was as if their wolves wanted to dance, wanted to run, wanted to wrestle with one another. The drive to be entwined with each other had become primeval, almost like an evolutionary imperative.

"I'm not sure, Jo…" Hope sighed, the tip of her nose brushing over Josie's cheek. "I just don't…"

"Want to talk about it right now…" Josie finished Hope's sentence for her as she pulled back to find those glowing eyes with her own. Hope confirmed Josie's statement with a small shake of her head and a lopsided smirk.

Then Josie's fingers grew tight as they curled around the back of Hope's neck; Hope's own fingers tangling harshly into Josie's hair.

One deep breath, perhaps just a moment of uncertainty causing them to pause.

But not for long.

Two pairs of lips soon came crashing down upon one another in a heated kiss. Every ounce of energy seemed to shoot through Josie's digits as she tugged Hope impossibly closer, bruising the tribrid's lips with the ferocity of the movements of her own mouth. Hope unintentionally tugged at Josie's hair, causing the witch to emit a low growl within her chest. Josie bit down on Hope's bottom lip as she moved the girl backward, quickly and eagerly, only coming to stop once she was pressed up against the large tree.

Hope squeaked a bit in surprise and her eyes flew open when she found herself pinned. This was new for her. She was Hope Mikaelson, the goddamn tribrid! No one took charge over her! And yet there she was, helpless and writhing her body against Josie's as the witch leaned into her, placing the pressure of her weight against Hope's body.

It felt ridiculously good, and the taste of Josie's tongue - as it finally demanded access to her mouth - tasted ridiculously good as well.

So, Hope did the only thing she could see fit. She moaned and wrapped her arms around Josie's neck, pulling her even closer – if that was at all possible.

Josie just seemed to have taken all of the anger and frustration and irritation and fear and uncertainty and all other messy emotions she had been experiencing lately and amalgamated them into one hot, passionate mess, which she directed fully at Hope. When she pulled back briefly and checked Hope's eyes and saw that they were still aglow with her own, she was quick to capture the tribrid's lips in another deeply heated kiss, her tongue not even politely asking for entrance as she wished to taste the inside of Hope Mikaelson.

Josie felt like she was starving. And she felt like Hope was there to be devoured.

And as it turned out, Josie Saltzman had quite the wolfish appetite.