"I ordered you to attack!" The powerful wolf boomed when he learned of the death. "You killed my son!" He shouted out the murderers in front of him. Each one as guilty as the next.
"We did what you told us. Make them live in fear. Draw out the girl." The new rogue spoke up. "We were following orders." Those words got the wolf a punch square in his jaw.
The strong leader, was sad. His favorite sons, both dead. His oldest and his youngest. They were against him, but they were still his sons, unlike that bastard. The one he had ordered them to attack. Just the attack of the girl's mate would draw here home. Miles and miles away, she would feel the pain of his attack. But his rogues went rogue on him. The one that given them a chance to live life without fear. A new plan needed to be made. One that didn't get them exposed as much as they were.
"You!" He pointed at the man who pinned his son down to let him be murder. "You will go out into town. Draw their attention on you. Don't come back until you have seen her."
Alaric and I sat in his study sharing a bottle of vodka while half the pack was working, and the other half were settling in. The Salvatore siblings were helping Bonnie and Abby settle in; well it was mostly Stefan carrying the suitcases and Sarah catching up with the girls. Jeremy was with the Bennett women as well, but it was just so he could spend time with Bonnie. The Parker Trio were being told about their brother's involvement with Finn's death by Marcel. Enzo, Diego and Matt were trying to see who could carry in the most luggage provided by the Forbes women. As for Jenna, she was in the kitchen cooking with hers and Alaric's twins. Kol was upstairs in his room by Davina's side, still waiting for her to wake up. Rebekah, Katherine, and Freya were researching down in the basement. Mason, Tyler, and Jeremy were patrolling the grounds. Elijah and Klaus could be heard through the compound; arguing with one another up in one of their rooms. We were all in the same house for the first time in years. The full pack…well not the full pack. Between Finn lost and fallout that happened when Mikael was exiled.
Nearly eight years ago, Mikael Mikaelson decided that Alaric was not meant to be alpha, and chose the path to overthrow Alaric. Just like pack rule, none of us were allowed to get involved. Wouldn't get into major trouble if we intervened, but the punishment was to stay in the fight. A fight between the two strongest wolves, anyone that stepped in would not survive. I stayed wedged in between Klaus and Damon; both of them stopping me from trying to do something. I just couldn't lose a second father. The fight was intense and lasted longer than anyone thought. We all stood there for hours watching them duke it out. By the end Mikael had lost, but Alaric didn't kill him like rules dictated. Instead, he let Mikael live and still be in the pack. Unhappy with losing, Mikael started a battle. A battle between the Mikael and the rogues verses the pack. We had no idea that he had rogues waiting outside the compound if he had lost. We didn't just lose members, but we lost family death and those who chose to leave with Mikael. Esther, Mikael's wife and the mother to all the Mikaelson children, was fighting off several rogues with the help of her youngest child, Henrik. The two of them were able corner the rogues into the guest house that was once in the far right corner of the compound. Esther used her magic to light it on fire without realizing Henrik was still in there fighting off the rogues. Before Finn or Elijah could stop their mother, she ran back in to save Henrik, but it was too late for him. Esther must have dropped her shield because when Freya was able to clear the flames, she found her mother and her baby brother's bodies. Esther and Henrik were just the beginning of our losses.
Rose Marie, Damon's girlfriend and Caroline's sire, was bit by a rogue while she and I were fighting them off in the library. Werewolf venom is a death sentence to vampires. When we discovered the bite on her shoulder, she begged me to kill her. She was a like an older sister to me; I didn't want to kill her. Rose didn't want to have to go through the pain and eventual death like her brother suffered years before my time. I took a shard of the broken wooden desk and used it to end the pain for her. Damon entered the library as I drove the shard into her heart. I tried to explain why I did it and that she wanted, but he didn't see it as a mercy. He didn't see losing the love of his life as a mercy; he saw it as a murder. He vowed revenge on me; swore that one day I would feel the pain he was feeling. Joshua Parker, his wife, Joey Parker and the youngest Parker twins all were killed in an accident. They were hiding in the garage to protect the youngest twins in the family. Poor Kai. He thought his family was in the basement where they were meant to be. He thought it was rogues waiting to attack when the others failed. He used a spell that caused the garage to crumble down. Kai lost his mind when he realized it was his family in there, and that he had accidently killed them. Even his twin, Jo could save his mind from the grief.
We were able to get the rogues that survived out of the compound, but by the end of the battle, it felt like they had and Klaus captured Mikael to face sentencing for those whose lives he took by starting the battle. Mikael was exiled from the pack, but he didn't go alone. Damon and Kai both left their siblings and the pack behind to become rogues. Kai had the guilt of his family on his shoulders. Damon just wanted revenge. Sarah Salvatore, the youngest Salvatore sibling, was devastated when her half-brother left. Jo Parker, the oldest Parker sibling, felt like a piece of her was missing when her twin brother abandoned them. We were able to rebuild the compound damage, but we were never fully the same.
It was bad enough we had wolves dying because of the change and the ones losing their mates, but we had the rogues killing pack members and other wolves. We had former pack members killing someone who was like an older brother to them. For what? Revenge? For some fucking game?!
"Elena?" Alaric's voice pulled me out of my memories and thoughts. "You drifted off."
"Been doing that a lot lately." I muttered under my breath before throwing back the rest of my glass. "Nothing makes sense. Why are the rogues working together again? Sure a few of them get together, but this is more than a few of them. We are talking about Kai, Damon, Thierry, Lily and her "family", and this new rogue. Damon hated his mother and the rogues she treated better than her own children. Kai had always disliked Thierry, as Thierry was one to always go by the rules and had others to follow them. But it wasn't just that they were working together; rogues would work together to hurt the pack sometimes, but they always end up falling apart due to the fact they couldn't stand to work as a team. Their group was more than a handful of them working together; they held the strongest ones and the ones that have affected the pack in the worst way. It hurt all of us when Damon and Kai left, but it cut deep when we had to kick Thierry out. When we had to kick Thierry out, it showed us all it took for breaking one rule could ruin our status in the pack. Before the battle, it was never like that, but we were playing a different tune after Alaric broke a rule by letting Mikael live.
And why did they kill Finn? It wasn't like he was the strongest or the weakest; was he just an opportunity? Yeah Finn didn't get along with Damon and Kai, but they killed him and strung him up. Finn was family, not some animal.
"Elena!" The sound of Alaric's voice and an English accent, shook me out of my thoughts. My father figure and my ex were standing in front of me. Their faces both scrunched; their eyes were narrowed in on something my hand. My eyes followed them down to my bloody right hand with glass poking out from the sides. My eyes then lifted up to look at Klaus's right hand to notice the hand bright red, and in a fist probably to stop the blood from flowing out of his hand. When one mate was hurt the other would not only feel it, but in some cases, the wound would also happen to the other mate. Just like now.
"I will get Jo. Don't remove the glass from her hand." Alaric warned Klaus before Alaric left the room to go find our pack's doctor.
"What were you thinking about?" Klaus asked while he moved over to the bar cart.
"Just stuff." I mumbled under my breath.
Klaus's chuckle in response just made my eyes roll, but I didn't say anything and he didn't even dare to say anything to me. Nothing was said until Jo and Alaric returned tot the room. And the only thing that was said were orders coming from Jo.
When my hand opened up, my wounds weren't healing since the glass was still in my hand. I didn't even feel pain until Jo started to pull the glass out of my hand. I winced when Jo pulled out the largest piece of glass from the palm of my hand.
"Shit." I muttered trying to hide the pain I was feeling.
"You are going to be fine, just don't break anymore glass in your hands." Jo said with a small tease in her voice. "Klaus, how is your hand?" She asked while she was wrapping up my hand.
"Fine. A lot better now." Klaus responded before polishing off a full glass of scotch. "Can you prescribe anything?"
"For you, a few more bottles will knock you out. For Elena, I will go see if I got any pain killers." Jo rolled her eyes while she was standing up after taping up my hand. "Do you need any pain killers, Lena?"
"I am fine, Jo. I didn't even feel pain when I broke the glass." I assured her, as I got up from my chair. "Since everyone is home, can we go tracking?"
"Elena…" Alaric spoke with that warning tone I hated more than anything.
"I don't need to rest, I don't need to calm down. I need to deal with this so I can go home." I exclaimed.
"And here I thought you were home." Klaus and his fucking remarks were getting on my last nerve.
"No, I am not." I responded to him. "I just want to deal with this shit already. I got things and people waiting for me."
"I will call a meeting once everyone is settled." Alaric said. I didn't want to wait anymore, but I understood what he was saying. Still, I wanted to just get this done with now.
My best friends were all gathered on my bed, already talking to one another. When I entered the room, they really freaked me out. They all turned their eyes to me at the same time, it was like children of the corn type shit.
"Why are you all in my room?" I asked the three of them while I was walking over to my bed to join them.
"Because it is the perfect escape. Everyone is too scared to come in here since you have threatened to hurt anyone else from entering your room." Katherine said. "It is too crazy with everyone moving around, and doing shit."
"Also, Stefan locked our room, so we can't go in there." Caroline mention as she leaned up against the wall. "You look different."
"I removed all that age makeup she was wearing." Katherine whispered to the girls. My eyes were like a slot machine at that comment.
"Not that." Caroline snipped at Katherine. Her dark blue eyes narrowed in on me like she was trying to figure out what was different about me. "Did you do something with your hair?"
"Other than cut it a little, no." I answered the Barbie detective.
Caroline continued to analyze me while I tried to catch up with Bonnie and all the things she had done. Apparently, I was not the only one to leave the pack, but still the only one to stay away from the pack. Jeremy and Bonnie had moved to California for a bit for Jeremy's art school before the two traveled overseas to do some exploring, but they always came back. Katherine stayed in Mystic Falls…shocking. Okay, not really. She had said she wanted to see the world, but she never wanted to leave the love of her life behind. And Elijah was not going to leave unless he was forced to. From what Katherine told me, Caroline and Stefan didn't leave either for too long. They took on the job of traveling around to keep in contact with the other packs. It used to be some of the older wolves, but they were staying around more. Ever since the battle, we had more guards than we had before. I am surprised there weren't more chasers. Chasers would go after the rogue wolves. Depending on what fight they put on, they were either chased off or in severe cases, death.
"…and Marcel joined Klaus." Katherine's story went on, but I didn't even hear the most part.
"What?" I asked her when I snapped myself back to reality.
"Marcel joined Klaus as a chaser, but right now they are benched. Alaric doesn't want anyone going after rogues alone." Bonnie summed up what Katherine was talking about in a way that didn't sound jumbled up.
My lips parted to say something, but never got the chance since Luke came running into my room. "I found Damon." He announced between is huffing and puffing from running.
"What?" I was shocked that Luke was able to find Damon quick. No, he wouldn't be able. Damon was a smart man, a fool on the occasion and an out right ass, but still smart. If Damon was "found", it was one of two things. Either he wanted to be found or it was a trap. Knowing that man he wanted to be found. "Where is he?"
"The Grill. Liv and I shared a vision." Luke said. "Where is Ric? I have to tell him."
"Or…" I started out.
"Or what?" Luke responded.
"Or I will go see why Damon is sitting in plain sight." I suggested.
"No!" Four voices snapped at me. "You know how dangerous that is?" Katherine's voice carried on.
"Yes, but Damon won't do anything in public. Obviously, he wants someone to go to him, and I want to go. If you tell Ric, then he is going to send off the Tyler and Mason. Damon will leave just at the sight of one of them. If I go alone, he will talk. I know him." I explained to them. "I will have back up. I got two people connected with me, I will be fine."
Luke shared glances with the girls that now stood behind me. They were figuring out a plan without saying anything.
"Take my car." Bonnie said as she handed me the keys to her white Prius. "It is the closest to the gate. I will hide out, so if anyone asks why my car is gone, Luke and the girls can say that we went into town to get some coffee. It will at least give you a head start before Jer sniffs me out."
I stuffed the keys into my jacket's pocket. "I promise I will be safe." I swore to them, as I walked over to my window.
Popped it right up to walk right out on to the roof. I back up as far as could before taking a running jump off the roof. Landed right near the fountain, right on my feet. As I stood up, I brushed off any dirt off me before making my way to Bonnie's car. Got in on the driver side and closed the door right behind me. Used one hand to start the car up and used the other to open up the gate. Once the gate was fully parted, I shifted Bonnie's car into drive before my foot landed on the gas. Left the compound as fast as I could. It was only a matter of time before the lie was put in place and found out. It was a problem with being mates, they always knew where another was. They would always find one another eventually.
Been awhile since the last time I had to drive into town, been years. The Grill was a small restaurant/bar that Matt worked out for a while. It was where just everybody hung out. It was a great hangout back in high school. Pool table, dart board, and it had events just about every weekend. Even when we got older, it was great place to just hangout. It was also Damon's drinking spot. Had to deal with his drunk ass there on more than one occasion and it took a whole lot of alcohol to get a werewolf drunk.
I spotted his baby outside while I was parking. I am surprised he kept it after all these years. Would think he would have gotten ride of it since about every werewolf…hell every human in this town knew who owns the 1969 Chevy Camaro Convertible, color: powder blue. Yep, he wanted to be found. Not a trap…at least not that I know of. He is the only wolf I can smell, but that means nothing right now. Too much perfume and cologne in the air to get a solid smell, but being around Damon so much, I picked it up.
I closed the front door of Bonnie's car behind me and locked it so the alarm went off. I wanted him to know someone from the pack was here for him. It wasn't going to be long before he knew it was me. Walking into the bar it felt like déjà vu. Damon sat at the bar. Black leather jacket, fitted dark wash jeans, and a pair of black motorcycle boots. One hand on the glass of bourbon while the other was holding up his head. Half a bottle of bourbon sat next him.
"Elena." I heard him mumble under his breath when the corner of his blue eyes caught me walking in.
"Damon." I spoke clearly so not just he could hear me. I walked right over to him. The man didn't scare him; what he became didn't scare me.
"They sent you alone. I am shocked." He said as he turned his head to look me.
"I snuck out." I told him while I took the bar stool that sat next to his. "You killed him."
"I played a part in killing him. Kai and the new guy did all the killing…it was just a deer, Elena." His eyes shifted off to the eavesdropping bartender. "Why don't we go get a booth? We can talk in private."
"I am not here to chat or catch up. I am here to get some answers." I made it clear to him.
"I will only give you those answers if we catch up." Damon responded. "Can't always get what we want. Be too easy that way."
I let out a sigh in defeat. Damon's lips curled into an evil grin as he stood up to lead us away from the crowd. I followed right behind him to a booth in a corner away from prying eyes and ears.
"Now what were you saying?" Damon asked while we took seats across from one another.
"You helped kill Finn…you are responsible as well for his death." I exclaimed. How dare he just act like he did nothing wrong. "Why Finn?"
"It was meant to be Klaus if that makes anything better, but the fool ran off in wolf form. It was going to be hard to take him in his wolf form. Finn should have stayed by the porch."
"Don't put this on Finn!" I snapped at him but then I lowered my tone. "Your "friends" and you killed him and then strung him up like he was an animal. He was family."
"So was I. So was Rose." He quipped.
"Rose was a mercy death. There is no cure for wolf venom on a vampire. She would have died slowly and painfully, she didn't want that. Finn was no mercy death or mercy killing. You killed him because you wanted to. You killed the man that was like a brother to all of us." The tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them down from where they were held.
"Finn was no brother to me. He was a prison guard." Damon snapped. "With a brother that liked to play executioner both working for a man who has a god complex."
"I think you are confused on which man has a god complex. Alaric was your best friend. He was the only one that spoke out against your father's treatment against you. Don't you dare say bad things about the only man that has ever cared about you." I put him in his place. "For Finn, yeah, he was a hard ass with a stick up his ass too, but that man only wanted what was best for us. And Klaus, only does what he needs to do. You used to the do the same job so don't act like you are all high and mighty, God."
"Surprised you are speaking up for that man after what he turned you into." Damon was unfazed by what I said…at least that was what he letting me think. "Klaus made you just like him. Turned you from a leader to a killer."
"Stop changing the topic around, Damon. Who was the other wolf?" I asked him.
"Not going to tell you." Damon said. "Why don't you ask Klaus? He knows the man. Your dear mate and alpha have kept a lot from you. Are you sure, that you are playing for the right team?"
"I am sure. It is you that should be asking yourself that question. Working with the rogues over asking for forgiveness. Hard headed and stubborn as ever, Damon." I slid out of the booth to leave, but Damon yanked me back into my seat as hard as he could. Left a bruise on my arm for just a moment. Oh, big mistake.
"Let's make one thing clear, Lena. I am not working with those things." So much venom in that word, things. "You have no idea what your "family" has started in your absence. You are still playing damsel in distress, and it is going to get you killed one of these days. Maybe even by the people you think you trust." Damon's words. Now that scared me. "I would watch my back around them."
"That is rich coming from a murder." Klaus why are you so fucking fast?! I wanted to ask Damon what he meant, but it was going to be hard with Klaus around. Damon would instantly shut up just like always did around Klaus. Ever since the student became the master chaser.
"Ooo the big bad wolf has come." Damon mocked Klaus to hid his fear. "Going to take me in?"
"Yep." Klaus answered quickly. "Come along Damon easily. Would hate to have to explain how we got blood every where and exposed ourselves to the humans." Damon held out his finger to me like one moment. He slid out of the booth to stand up beside Klaus. Leaned in close to the big bad wolf's ear to whisper something so silent I only caught "Lu". When Damon pulled his head back, he walked off and out of the Grill.
"We are just going to let him go?" I asked in shock that Klaus just let him leave.
"We will get him another time. I only came to collect you." Klaus was lying to me. The words he spoke, they were truthful, but there was something else. He was keeping a secret from me. Who was this Lu? Or what was it? Why did the word make the most feared wolf into weakest?