One week, seven whole freaking days, with no word from her coven, and no idea what to do next. Gathering all her pseudo council of advisors together in the grand dining room of the plantation, each ancient immortal lounging in their chairs accustomed to such luxury, outsourcing her tactical decisions once again. Bonnie was seated between Kol and Kat, they still weren't talking, especially since Caroline could tell that the leech's hand was linked with hers under the table. Kat sat directly across from Elijah, wearing typical Sorceri clothes, in other words the less clothes the better. A gold breastplate that was dangerously low on her chest, and through a complicated series of straps connected to an equally dangerously short mini skirt. She was breathing deeply and deliberately as his gaze was locked on the tantalizing view of her breasts. Caroline had witnessed them interact over the last few days, and it appeared Elijah wasn't the only one who was frustrated anymore. A few days earlier, she caught Kat coming out with swollen lips and rumpled clothes from the library, muttering, "How could he hold out against me? Wants to put a ring on it? What century does he think he lives in?"
She'd continued walking down the hall, irritated and hadn't seen Caroline hiding. She'd giggled to herself and even headed towards Bonnie's room to tell her, it was only when she found it empty that she'd remembered.
Rebekah had plopped herself into Stefan's lap and glared directly at her brothers, daring them to say anything about it. Kol held his hands up in surrender, Elijah frowned disapprovingly but said nothing, Finn smiled happily, as his red-haired Bride, Sage, who'd arrived yesterday, was sitting on his right-hand side. Caroline was oddly happy for them, they'd spent decades apart because of Mikael's cruelty, and deserved a small bit of happiness. Somehow, in the last week, some of the Mikaelsons had moved past emotionless monsters in her eyes, instead seeing them as the deeply flawed immortals they were.
There was a thump of confident footsteps in the hallway, throwing her on immediate alert, and reaching back for her swords. It was Kol who hesitantly stated, noticing her immediate reaction to the resounding footsteps, "By the way, Caroline. I probably should have mentioned this before, but… Since we were strategizing and all- "
He failed to finish his explanation before the Hybrid was leaning against the doorjamb, his posture casual, but his gaze belied his stance. She'd almost forgotten how unbelievably attractive he was, and it angered her more because it caused a visceral reaction within her. He'd been restrained for the last seven days or let out only with all his siblings present to restrain him physically if necessary. She avoided that wing of the house like the plague, so this was the first she'd seen him in a week. His eyes were like green laser beams on her, assessing her every detail, hungry for the sight of her. She could tell by the way that he'd locked onto every aspect of her appearance, that he was not only gazing at her with lust, but also approving. It was that sly thought, that brought her hackles up, the Hybrid's eyes were approving because he believed her to be his mate, his property. There was no worse fate for a Valkyrie than to be imprisoned against their will, and this Hybrid was planning to take her away. She yanked her swords up against him, shouting at Kol with eyes narrowed, "Are you serious?!"
Kol stuttered in his own defense, "We need to figure out how to retake the city, Niklaus has one of the most Machiavellian brains you've ever seen, he's invaluable. He's promised to be on his best behavior." Kol winced when he uttered those words, knowing that Nik had no best behavior.
He gulped audibly, as the two stared off, Caroline's bright blue eyes shot fire, and Niklaus becoming more amused by her ire with every passing second. It was Caroline who finally lowered her blades, keeping them unsheathed however, a clear message that was not lost on Niklaus. He bowed mockingly to the young Valkyrie gesturing for her to proceed.
Caroline returned to the head of the table, Klaus sitting at the opposite end, raising a sardonic eyebrow as she placed her swords on the table, keeping them within easy reach. Then she easily commanded the attention of the entire table, a woman who was obviously accustomed to leading, Klaus thought smugly, a worthy queen.
"Well, Mikael is constantly guarded by his compelled vampires, he has an army that will not flinch to sacrifice themselves if he gives the order. His numbers are massive, he's been turning tourists and locals alike, recruiting to his cause. All of Veritas would be unable to take them all on, and Pravus will only accept a bloodline to take command. Which is where you come in. You know your father better than anyone, is there anything that Veritas hasn't thought of, that you have?"
She sat down in her seat, signaling the beginning of open discussion. To her surprise, it was Katherine that spoke first, "Mikael's biggest weakness has always been his temper, he's actually a giant asshole. I know that if we can get to him with all of his children, there's no way he'd be able to take out all five of you right?"
She looked directly at Elijah, when she said that, searching for reassurance, but found none. Elijah's face was a coolly composed mask, but it was the feeling of unease that seemed to radiate from him, that had Kat gulping in what she would never admit was fear.
Klaus spoke up, "Armed with the right weapons we could take him out. But our Mother made him more powerful than us on purpose, he's mystically protected from us, but we aren't from him. Do you really think I would have let my crown be stolen from me if it was just my reluctance to kill him?"
Caroline couldn't help but role her eyes at his unnecessary show of dominance. "Bonnie," her voice was laced with disapproval, Bonnie's chocolate eyes snapping to hers, at the same time pulling her hand from Kol's underneath the table, "Could you disable this protection?"
Bonnie stiffened, leaning away from an increasingly irate Kol, "From afar? No. This is the Original Witch we are talking about, I doubt even Mari could do that."
Bonnie paused, and Caroline looked around the room for another possible plan, she opened her mouth to ask Kat, if there was a way she could do something about the shield, when she heard Bonnie quietly whisper, "Not from afar, anyways."
That had her focus again, "Bonnie, are you telling me you could do it if you were close enough to him, you could get rid of the protection?"
Bonnie nodded, in quiet determination, "I'd have to be touching him, but I think I could do it."
Caroline was about to protest at Bonnie even getting that remotely close to the deadly vampire, who hunted vampires. But Kol beat her to the punch, throwing his chair back, so hard it splintered to dust on the wall behind him, his voice was little more than a snarl as he whirled on Bonnie and Caroline, his fury pulsating, "There is no way in hell, I am letting you get that close to Mikael! No way in hell! He's a monster who would take delight in torturing and killing you in front of me! Find another way, Valkyrie! Now!"
Caroline was about to stutter out, that she would never put Bonnie in danger like that, but Kol had grabbed Bonnie by the arm and yanked her out of the room, muttering madly under his breath.
The remaining immortals were stunned at Kol's outburst, all but Klaus, whom seemed to be surveying the events with a critical, and cruel eye. He reminded her of the much older immortal, Lothaire, always seeming to survey and analyze his opponents' strengths and weaknesses, unaffected by emotions, plotting and scheming, all in pursuit of his endgame.
Elijah cleared his throat roughly, encouraging the plan to move forward, Caroline pulled her focus from the hybrid at the other end of the table, and continued, "It appears that Bonnie getting close enough to Mikael to disengage the protection, is not a viable plan. I know other witches, but it would take a ton of them to disable that. However, the problem is getting to Mikael in the first place. He's incredibly cloistered in his compound and only lets his most trusted sycophants in. So, we'd have to either fight our way through an army of vampires- "
"I could get us in." Katerina said softly, almost guiltily.
Caroline turned shocked blue eyes to the unusually soft-spoken remark. "You could?"
Kat shifted uncomfortably in her seat, glancing at Elijah across from her, Caroline began to feel the fury mounting in the staid vampire. "I" delicate cough, "met Mikael decades ago, I did something that made him trust me implicitly."
Caroline tilted her head to the side, incredibly curious about the cryptic answers Kat was providing. She quickly glanced at Elijah, but he looked dumb struck by this admission, an admission that made no sense to Caroline.
Glancing back to Kat, Caroline was stunned, because with her gaze fixed on her lap, the saucy sorceress, looked guilty.
Kat was someone who never felt regret for her actions, never hesitated to sacrifice anything or anyone to protect herself and her twin. This obvious guilt and shame on her face made Caroline worried. Kat's teasing breaths and heated glances had stopped, her gaze glued to her lap, while Elijah's breath seemed to stop completely before whisking out with such a hesitant question, Caroline was almost unsure if he said it out loud. "It, was you?"
Again, Kat seemed to hunch her shoulders even more into herself, and barely nodded her head. Elijah's face was a completely icy mask, seeming to be actively preventing himself from reaching across the table and snapping her neck. Caroline was almost positive that had Katarina been anyone else but his Bride, her head would be ripped from her body right now.
Elijah stood up with a very slow movement, concentrating on every muscle grasping at the last part of his control. His voice was also slow and measured, "Why?"
Kat's gaze finally left her lap, meeting the eyes that had held nothing but desire just minutes before. She'd known that he'd find out, expected his rage, but his icy demeanor made her feel a peculiar ache in her chest. She had to make him understand, "I didn't know you, Elijah. You were just some vampire who thought he could control my future! Your belief that I was your Bride, and intending to take me away, try to turn me into a demure wife, threatened my very lifestyle! So, I told him where to find you."
Caroline sucked in a breath at that, Katerina had set up the Mikaelsson siblings, telling Mikael where to find them. Caroline's shocked reaction was subtle compared to the explosion that followed.
Rebekah lunged out of Stefan's lap, towards Katerina shouting obscenities, "You selfish bitch! Do you have any idea what we went through on that island?! I should make you experience seventy years of having your organs tore out and shown to you!"
She screeched towards the ceiling, Stefan wrapping his arms around her, using all his immortal strength to control her. She was over a thousand years old born vampire and he was a less than two-hundred-year-old turned vampire, in other words, he was barely containing her. His voice was labored when he grunted, "Might want to make yourself scarce, Kat."
Kat gave one last look of almost longing at Elijah, before she cast illusions making herself invisible and retreating from the room. Despite the sorceress's disappearance, Rebekah was still railing at the betrayal, "Let me go Stefan! I will make her eat her own eyeballs for a hundred years! I'm due!"
Stefan threw an exasperated glance at Caroline before forcibly hauling Rebekah out of the room. Elijah slipped slowly out behind them, seeming to be shaking at the seams, becoming unraveled. Finn and Sage were quick to follow, Caroline did not miss that he was also restraining Sage, she was most likely outraged that her Groom had been taken and tortured for seventy years.
Before she could comprehend what had happened, she was alone with Klaus. Recalling his presence, she rested her hands lightly on the swords before glancing at the Hybrid at the other end of the table. Shockingly, he appeared completely calm.
Before Caroline could control her mouth, "No desire to rip Katerina's innards from her body and feed them to her like your siblings?" What was she doing? Did she want to send the powerful Hybrid after her friend?!
To her surprise, he chuckled lowly, the cadence of his voice flowing over Caroline like rich molasses, "Completely the opposite, love. I respect her decision to betray Elijah."
Caroline stuttered in shock, "Y-You respect her for betraying your brother?"
"I'm not like most immortals, love. I understand that betraying someone can be equal to getting something you want very much. She didn't know Elijah, and though I don't appreciate being locked up for 70 years, her reasons were understandable."
Caroline shook her head in disbelief, was this guy for real? "You find her motive understandable, when you and your siblings were tortured for decades?"
He chuckled as he slowly rose from his chair, Caroline tensed for a second in preparation expecting an attack, she had chained him for a week, but she sensed no immediate threat from him, and allowed herself to relax in her chair, it had been a long week.
"It's quite simple, Caroline," he deliberately dragged her name out seeming to savor every syllable, "without Katerina's betrayal of Elijah, I would not be standing here in the same room as you."
He moved closer to her, every step predatory, and his eyes were completely focused on her. They still needed a plan, so Klaus moving to her end of the table was understandable as they were the only ones left in the room. Caroline felt a laugh in her head at the idea, that any planning was going to be taking place in this room. He was almost to her side of the table, and his eyes were glowing with need for her. Without carefully evaluating her decision, she acquiesced to the attraction she felt for the Hybrid. The last three weeks had begun to wear on her, and to be honest she wouldn't mind release right now, even if it was with him. She tensed in anticipation of an attack, or at least she told herself it was in anticipation of battle. The tingling sensation covering her entire body was trying to make her a liar.
His large hand reached forward, surprisingly warm as he removed her hand from her short sword, and gently pulled her up. She was entranced by his green eyes, seeming to glow before her, she let him pull her to stand before him. Something in her screamed to snap out of this trance, to remember he was a leech and a dog, but was too weak to fight what was happening.
Caroline's entire body was on fire, and the room was eerily flashing as her lightning boomed outside the mansion. His smile was slow and seductive as he noticed the lightning. "Like me more than you let on, pet? Valkyrie only give off lightning at strong emotions, and I'm sure you're feeling something strong now."
He was now chest to chest with her, but still only held her hand, why didn't he take her into his arms? Why didn't he kiss the daylights out of her? Why wasn't she fighting him?
She shook her head almost begrudgingly trying to clear her scattered thoughts, she was a Valkyrie! She was stronger than this animalistic urge!
When she attempted to more vigorously shake her head clear, he grasped her chin in his hand, locking eyes with her. His voice dropped an octave, becoming darker and compelling, "You want me to kiss you, don't you love? Tell me the truth."
She tried to scoff off his insinuation, but the words rose like bile in her mouth, hypnotically she answered, "More than I've wanted anything."
Her answer seemed to arouse him even more, finally pulling her into his arms but right as his lips hovered temptingly over hers about to kiss her, something in her broke free of her libido, enough to put her hands on his chest. He deliberately paused, the slightest of space between their lips. He was waiting for her to make the final move, knowing it had to be hers.
Her eyes flickered silver, her Valkyrie traits at the fore, and to see them with such desire, made him crave her more than he thought possible. He was hard to the point of pain, and his Lykae side was clawing at his control to get out, this was their mate, their everything. What did they wait for?
When she finally moved forward to press the lightest of kisses on his lips, he groaned with arousal, before taking her mouth hard and rough, as the wolf inside him demanded. She moaned with desire, and he heard the boom of thunder outside. He moved with all his immortal speed, grasping her closely to him, and boosting her onto the mahogany dining table. He pulled back momentarily to admire his mate.
Her long blonde hair, curled around her shoulders falling seductively to the tips of her generous breasts, his mouth watered at the thought of suckling her there. Her narrow waist flared into rounded hips, which were tragically concealed in jeans, something he would immediately rectify. He was frozen, stunned at the beautiful queen that Fate had destined to be his.
She leaned up on her elbows, her silver eyes mesmerizing, and was smiling, but he felt her insecurity, almost as if she doubted herself. Something else he would immediately rectify. His animalistic urge, was becoming harder to control, he knew his eyes glowed ice blue, but his irises were lined with blood red, his hybrid eyes. Each species in the Lore could be identified by their eyes, his hybrid ones unique to the Lore.
She raised an eyebrow at his eyes, her hair tumbling over her shoulder seductively. For a fleeting second, he knew that he would always remember this, his mate splayed out before him calling him forward. He quickly positioned himself between her hips, secretly delighted that she willingly wrapped her legs around him, locking him in place. She moaned at the feel of her coarse jeans rubbing against her core. It wasn't like the ancient plantation had a washer/dryer unit, so she'd been forced to go commando days ago. It hadn't bothered her until now, but the feel of the jeans slipping over her wetness was almost agony. His eyes flared as his hybrid senses smelled how wet she was, "Dripping for me already love?"
Her response was a half moan, "What are you doing to me?"
He chuckled at her question, quickly divesting her of her shirt, which he ripped in half, her untamed breasts struggling for freedom. He groaned at the sight of her pert breasts, the ruby-tipped nipples seemed to beg for his mouth. He restrained himself, wanting her words, so she would finally admit that she had been denying them both. "To think we could have been enjoying each other like this for the last week, if you'd simply accepted that you are mine."
Mate. He thinks I'm his mate. His off handed comment finally broke through the sexual haze fogging her brain. This wasn't going to be some stress release for him, this was going to be the beginning of their lives together. This wasn't what she wanted, to have her future snatched away and decided for her, by some man who claimed destiny had decided they had to be together. Well, screw Fate! She sat up completely, putting her hands up on to his solid chest, feeling his deep shuddering breaths. His eyes were glowing blue, and she knew that walking away from the aroused hybrid wasn't going to be easy. "We can't do this. I shouldn't have kissed you."
His eyes flared in annoyance, and he growled, his arms tightening to steel around her. She was tempted to cross her arms over her exposed breasts self-consciously but was hesitant to remove her pale hand from the hybrid's chest. He moved his hand to cover hers slowly pulling her small hand to his jeans, she bit her lower lip, thoroughly aroused by the idea of cupping his hardness, but her previous resolution caused her to yank her hand away roughly.
"I'm serious, let me go."
He shook his head, moving to kiss her, but she dodged him, loosening his grip just enough for her to wiggle free from his hold. She crossed her arms over her breasts self-consciously. She'd grown up in a house full of ethereal Valkyrie, and they weren't exactly a modest group but somehow, she'd never felt so exposed before, something about the electric blue eyes boring into her made her feel the need to cover up. But it wasn't just the way that he glared at her, a very turned-on hybrid was not to be trifled with, it was also the slightest flash of hurt that made her pause for half a second. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't – I'm sorry."
He was clearly enraged but remained silent as he strode from the room, Caroline cringed at the sound of furniture being snapped and ripped from somewhere in the plantation. She knew that it was so wrong to have kissed him, to let things go that far, he was the Hybrid King! He was evil! He's killed thousands of people without blinking an eye! She should be terrified of him! So why did she feel this need to follow him?