Chapter 28

"A reverse lycanthrope curse?" Josie asked as she glanced over to Hope walking next to her, the pair strolling through the dryer parts of the Bayou, but not too far from the river. Hope had given into Josie's pleas to show her more of where her roots lay.

"Yeah, so instead of turning into wolves at the full moon, the pack would turn into humans instead while being wolves the rest of the time. My mom only escaped it because she was pregnant with me. That was before it was lifted." Hope glanced around the trees and the river nearby, amazed at how much history there was in the area that she had hardly even been a part of.

"Could you imagine what that is like? Didn't you say that the longer you spend in wolf form, the more the wolf takes over?" Josie asked curiously.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure what it was like for them. Crescents had always been special because it's one of the first packs; they could show exceptional control in wolf form. But even so, the Crescents only became evolved wolves when my mom went through the unification ritual with my step-dad. She was a hybrid at the time, so she passed her ability to shift at will onto the whole pack." Hope seemed wistful as she explained some of the wolf logistics to Josie, her own mind stooped in memories of the past – or rather the stories she had heard of the past.

"What happened to the Crescents? Shouldn't the pack still be in New Orleans?" Josie continued with her curiosity, most of it simply stemming from her desire to know everything she could about Hope.

"The pack kind of disbanded after my mom… yeah. I'm sure there are still Crescents around, but the pack isn't really a unit anymore." Hope shrugged, wondering herself how many were still left.

"And Keelin? Isn't she a Crescent?" Josie frowned, carefully stepping around some thick swamp undergrowth and feeling her weight sink slightly into the moist ground.

"No, she's from the Malroux bloodline. Her bloodline wasn't a part of the Crescent pack." Hope answered as she slowed down the pace they were walking at, moving deeper and deeper into the Bayou. She could see what seemed like lived-in shacks and tents some distance down the river.

"And you? What bloodline are you from?" Josie smiled sideways at her and matched her pace, then followed her gaze to the signs of occupation in the stretch of swamp they were currently in, unsure of whether they had to be weary or not.

"She's a Lebonaire." An unfamiliar voice spoke behind them, appearing out of nowhere. The girls spun around to observe a young woman, about the same age as the two of them with short black hair and piercing blue eyes. "And the first naturally born tribrid – currently the only of her kind." The girl smiled confidently, but her body language was guarded and her tone had a slightly menacing ring to it. Neither girl received any warm and fuzzy feelings from the stranger.

"Hope Mikaelson. And you are?" Hope half stepped in front of Josie, ready to protect her should the need arise.

"Nimyra. I'm Gastuan." Another strange voice came out of thin air, again behind the pair. When they turned to see the young man who had spoken, this one tall with wild blonde hair, they spotted several others also approaching – all young and clearly agile. They were being surrounded. "And these are Kaylin, Velles, Quin and Dolin." He motioned to the other four nubile characters: two females and two males.

The girls could sense the hostility surrounding them.

"And what about you, pretty?" Nimyra nodded towards Josie. "You have a name?" She grinned more widely as she eyed the dark-haired girl.

"Josette." She answered from behind Hope, moving slightly closer to her companion. If they were about to get into a confrontation, she knew she would need to be within reach of Hope in order to siphon magic from her to use. "Can we help you?"

"Well, for one, you two can get out of our territory." Gastuan stepped slightly closer to the pair, though Hope kept a trained eye on him, even while remaining very aware of the rest as well.

"You're wolves." Hope stated, then nodded towards the blonde male's hand where there sat a golden ring containing a black stone. "With toys. Where'd you get those?" The whole pack seemed to be wearing moonlight rings, which would enable them to shift at will.

"Well, that's not really any of your business, tribrid." Nimyra uttered again with an annoying level of self-confidence as she slowly made her way over to the pair.

"How'd you know who I am?" Hope asked her as she watched the wolf's every movement as she circled herself and Josie.

"We've been keeping tabs on you since you arrived. Saw you last night on Bourbon street. You two are not very discreet with your eyes lit up like that." Nimyra circled once more before coming to stand face to face with Hope and grinned at her, her own eyes slowly starting to glow a bright, electric yellow. "Your tribrid energy is easy to sense, but…" She inhaled deeply and moved over to Josie, leaning slightly closer and inhaling her scent. "You're something else, aren't you?"

Hope's wolf was brimming with agitation within her chest, begging to be let out, especially with the other wolf in such close proximity to her mate. She would rip her limb from limb if she even considered laying a finger on Josie.

"Look, we didn't come here to start anything. We didn't know you were here. I thought the Bayou had been empty since the Crescents left. I'm sorry. Consider us gone, okay?" Hope wasn't about to start a fight with Josie by her side and place her in any sort of danger. She would rather back down and back out than risk it.

"Consider this your final warning, tribrid. If we find you here again, River will make swift work of you." Gastuan growled at Hope as his eyes too matched the glow that started with Nimyra. Hope could easily guess that the character referred to by the imposing male wolf was their alpha.

"Noted." Hope grunted in irritation. She knew very well that even on a bad day she could lay the whole bunch of them to waste, but with Josie at her side she couldn't afford to be arrogant. Her priority was most definitely the younger girl's safety and comfort.

The two girls slowly started backing away into the direction they had originally come from, showing that they had no intention of further aggravating the pack. As they broke through the circle around them, they turned their backs but stayed alert as they quickly walked away.

"A Gemini wolf, by the way, would be something extraordinary…" Nimyra called to the pair, though her words were more specifically aimed at Josie. The siphon glanced over her shoulder at the provocative grin on Nimyra's lips, suddenly very curious as to how she knew exactly what Josie was, however she was happy and eager to get out of the swamp for the time being.

(…)

"You could have taken them." Josie pointed out to Hope as they sat at the kitchen counter back at the house, drinking tea and talking about the experience they had just had to deal with.

"Yeah probably…" Hope sighed and waved one hand through the air. She was clearly irritated. "But I wasn't going to try anything with you there."

"Why not? I can protect myself, Hope." Josie scowled at the older girl, clearly offended.

"Look, I didn't mean to…" Hope started, but Josie quickly cut her off.

"I don't ever want you to be placed in a position where you have to choose between my safety and what's right; the greater good, or whatever." Josie spat, shaking her head. "That's an issue for you and Landon to trudge through. I am NOT him." She nearly growled at Hope as she continued, making sure that she was making herself very clear to the tribrid. "I did not deal with you, in my head, convincing me that I could be good and strong at the same time – just like you – just to have you treat me like some delicate flower."

"Jo, I'm sorry…" Hope tried to apologize to the fuming siphon and reached her hand out to place it on Josie's arm in a soothing gesture. "You're right. You're a badass. I know this. I just… I'm sorry, it was an error in judgement on my behalf," she paused, then tilted her head to make sure Josie would meet her gaze before she continued, "but it was not an error in emotion. I just… I care more than words can explain…"

Josie sighed and allowed herself to soften up a bit. The words were sweet, and the sentiment behind them was genuine as well. She could understand that much at least – that Hope didn't mean to underestimate her, but rather just didn't want anything to hurt her. She knew that she herself would lose it should Hope get hurt.

Finally, Josie relaxed enough to reach for Hope's hand, taking it gently and holding it gingerly within her own two hands and offered her a warm smile. They simply took a few minutes to just look at each other, each taking in as much of the other as they could. Hope allowed herself to get completely lost within those copper-hued eyes of Josie's that seemed to glow brighter as the warmth between them grew. Josie herself could appreciate the increased intensity with which Hope's golden eyes shone back at her the happier the girl felt.

Their few sweet moments of ethereally reaching out towards one another and drinking each other in was finally cut short as Freya entered the kitchen with Nik in her arms, chuckling at the girls as she cast a glance their way. "Again, you know every supernatural creature within a 10-mile radius can feel the energy between you two, right?" Freya had meant it as a joke, but truth be told – that was probably what had caused the Bayou pack to catch onto them.

They reluctantly separated from each other and turned their attention towards the older witch as she settled Nik in his baby chair and then shuffled around the kitchen, grabbing her phone, keys and purse, and other odds and ends. She was looking stunning in a low-cut black cocktail dress, her hair fashionably feathered and her make-up smoldering. "Now are you two sure you'll be okay? He can be a handful." She smirked at the girls and then looked lovingly over at her son.

"We'll be just fine, aunty Freya. Please just go!" There was absolutely no chance that Freya and Keelin were going to pass up the opportunity to have a special date night by themselves while they had two of their very own personal babysitters on standby for an evening.

"Numbers on the fridge. Be back by ten-ish." Freya eyed Hope as she darted towards the door.

As soon as she was gone, Josie grinned over at Hope as Nik started squeaking playfully at his cousin. "Oh, I can't wait to see this!"