Chapter Twenty Seven

'I will take a double' I said to the blonde serving behind the bar, I noted that her nametag said 'Cami', though she vaguely reminded me of Caroline.

'You look like you could use it,' she said, giving me a friendly smile, 'though I'm going to need to see some I.D.'

'Really?' I asked brightly; I never got asked for I.D.- I was starting to worry that I looked older than my age and that was never a fun thought. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket, removed the case and handed her my driver's licence; it was easier to stash it there than carry a purse around. It had already been modified of course, it had my name as Kimberly Mikaelson and the address was of the mansion back in Mystic Falls with my birthdate still the same.

'Alright, that's fine.' She smiled handing me back the I.D. before she poured me my drink and slid it over, I went to pay her but she held her hand out, 'on the house. Happy birthday.'

I hid my shock, holding my glass towards her in a gesture of thanks before I took a sip. It was my birthday? I checked my phone and it confirmed it; November the 17th, I would be twenty-one if I hadn't stopped aging a few days ago. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten, but then again with everything that had been going on the past few weeks I wasn't completely surprised. Although it was really only a few minutes into my birthday; Elena, Kol, Finn, Elijah and Bekah had gone back to the plantation after Sophie had filled us in on what she wanted the first few steps of the plan to be, which was where Nik was now; he was going to bite one of Marcel's day walkers. According to Sophie, those with daylight rings were considered as family so infecting one with a werewolf bite was bound to get to him. I had insisted on going for a drink at Rousseau's, the bar I was pretty certain was going to become the new local; it had been a long day and Cami was right; I needed a drink. A few strong drinks later I decided that I should probably get back home before Nik sent out a search party, though rather than flashing back I opted to stroll through the quarter; it was still littered with vampires feeding off tourists, but as I walked further along the streets became quieter, more peaceful. The cold night air hit my lungs and made me feel refreshed as she autumnal weather always did; it relaxed me, calmed me and allowed me to think clearly.

'Werewolf in the quarter? Oh, this is going to be fun! I call dibs!' A male voice said; I could feel his eagerness over spilling innocent blood and it made my own blood boil.

'Hey, wolf, hasn't anyone told you that werewolves are banned from the quarter?' Another male voice asked, I flashed in the direction of the voices using my vampire speed and managed to reach them just as the woman answered.

'No, funnily enough that was kept out of the brochure,' the woman answered, sarcasm dripping from her voice, though I could feel her fear; a werewolf up against two vampires without a full moon wasn't likely to end well for her.

'Aw, I love the funny ones, they make it so much more fun,' One of the vampire's said; I couldn't make out any facial features because I was standing behind them, but from the smugness radiating from him I imagined that he had a sickly smile on his face.

'And I love the smug ones, the expressions they make when they get beaten by a girl are just hilarious.' I said, my arms crossed over my chest as I flashed to stand beside the woman. I could feel her surprise at my sudden appearance and her apprehension as to why I was so willing to help her when I was clearly part vampire myself.

'Who the hell are you?' The smug one asked, looking at me as if I were a piece of dirt on his shoe.

'I'm a Mikaelson, sweetie.' I said, my voice sickly sweet, though the threatening edge was clear.

'You're not Rebekah,' The other one argued, I could feel that they didn't believe me and I knew that this was only going to end one way.

'No, well done for that distinction,' I started, flashing forward and plunging my hands into their chests, grasping their hearts, 'I'm Kimberly, I would ask you to spread that around seeing as everyone is having trouble remembering that, but you're not going to live long enough to do that.' I yanked their hearts from their chests as soon as I finished speaking, dropping them to the floor on top of their greying corpses. I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the blood all over my hands, but before I could think too much of it I was handed a bottle of water and a towel by the girl who was still stood next to me.

'The least I could do, seeing as you just saved my ass.' She said, a reluctant smile pulling up at the corners of her mouth.

'Don't worry about it, honey,' I said, dousing my hands with the water before I wiped the remaining blood away, 'but for future reference, I would avoid the quarter.'

'I don't know if I can…' She trailed off, and I paused when I could feel the genuine sadness coming from her, though she was doing a good job at controlling her expression.

'What do you need?' I asked her, placing a hand on her arm to offer her some semblance of comfort.

'Why do you care?' She replied, her tone cautious, which made my heart hurt a little; she wasn't used to people helping her without a motive.

'Because if you're willingly here then whatever your motive is, it was worth risking your life for,' I told her honestly; I didn't know who she was or what she wanted but I had a good feeling about her and I knew that she deserved help.

'I'm looking for my family. I was put up for adoption when I was young but they threw me out when I triggered my werewolf curse.' She admitted, linking her arm through mine as we walked.

'Do you have any information on them?' I wondered aloud as I led her towards the plantation, it should take us a little longer to get there, so it was the perfect time to talk.

'Just that the pack I belonged to lived in New Orleans and that it was named the Crescent Moon pack.' She told me after a long moment.

'Well, I'll be honest with you, I don't know that much about the werewolves around here, because I've only just arrived myself.' I admitted as I squeezed her hand in comfort before I continued, 'but if you'll let me, I'll help you find out what I can?'

'Why would you do that for me? You don't even know my name.' She murmured, sounding baffled and feeling a little apprehensive.

'I'm Kim.' I said giving her a little wave with the hand that wasn't linked through hers.

'Hayley,' she said with a smile and a little laugh.

'Well, Hayley I want to help you because you seem like a good person. That and everyone deserves to know where they came from,' I said, my voice firm; I understood her longing to find the family that had given her up, I was still convinced that I was adopted but I hadn't looked into it yet because I was lucky enough to have a family that cared for me as much as I cared for them; Hayley didn't have that.

'Thank you.' She said, smiling brightly as she gave me a hug, catching me off guard for a moment before I hugged her back.

'Anyway,' I started after she pulled back from me, linking her arm through mine again, 'it will probably be safer if you stay with me and out of the quarter while I look for information.'

'Are you sure?' She asked, sounding nervous, I could tell she didn't think it was fair to leave finding her family to me.

'Absolutely; I'll find out where the packs went when they were rudely kicked out of the quarter and when I find the Crescent Moon pack I'll take you to them.' I promised her, my voice clearly sincere.

After she hugged me again, we made our way back to the plantation and I made sure to fill her in on everyone's possible reactions, mainly Nik's; I was pretty sure his reaction wasn't going to be a pleasant one, but otherwise I wasn't worried. I pushed open the door and listened for anyone who might still be around, it was nearly two in the morning after all. I thought I could hear Bekah, Kol and Elena asleep upstairs, Elijah reading in the living room while Finn was in the kitchen and Nik didn't seem to be home yet. I pursed my lips for a moment, deciding who I was going to introduce her to first, but before I could ponder it any longer, the door opened behind us and I turned, bringing Hayley with me, bringing us face to face with a pissed off Nik.

'Hey Nik! You look tired,' I commented, trying to make casual conversation; I could already tell that he knew what I had done and he was pissed about it.

'Don't try and district me, love. I know what you did, killing two of Marcel's nightwalkers, are you insane?' He shouted, I wrinkled my nose at the volume of his voice as I discretely moved Hayley to stand behind me.

'No I'm not insane they were attacking an innocent werewolf, Nik and I wouldn't have killed them if they hadn't been so damn rude.' I argued.

'Oh well that makes sense.' He said, forcing his tone to be casual before he blew up again, 'are you deliberately trying to ruin the plan?'

'No, of course not. They were only night walkers its not like I killed any of his precious day walkers and I'll tell you what, I'll even go to him tomorrow and apologize, I'm sure it'll be fine,' I lied, waving my hand dismissively.

'I SWEAR TO-,' he started bellowing but I held my hand up and cut him off.

'I swear I've told you that shouting gets you nowhere.' I muttered, taking a step back, forcing Hayley back as well as he moved forward, 'you are definitely overreacting Nik.'

I focused on him and realized why he was so wound up; I could feel the aching in his chest that had started in my own when we had parted ways earlier. He had told me a while ago that when he had left Mystic Falls after Damon name dropped Mikael, his temper had been worse than it had ever been, and he hadn't made the connection as to why until he came back; I calmed him, leveled out his mind so that he could think clearly. Once I knew what he needed, I moved forward and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly; he had been about to say something else but as soon as I touched him his mouth snapped shut and he wound his arms around my waist and hugged me back, his anger leaving him with a long sigh. With my face safely buried into his neck I was able to place a lingering kiss onto his mark, causing goose bumps to erupt over his skin, without Hayley seeing. Once he was completely calm, I pulled away, leaving one of my hands around his waist.

'This is Hayley,' I said with a bright smile as I gestured to her; she looked a little nervous over Klaus' outburst and also a little confused at how easily I had calmed him down, but otherwise she was holding her own.

'The innocent werewolf she rescued,' she smiled ironically, offering Klaus a little wave.

'I told her she could stay here while I help her find the pack that Marcel banished from the quarter,' I said, smiling to Elijah as he joined us in the hallway.

'That's our sister, kind, generous and selfless,' Klaus commented, his tone was mocking but I could feel that he was in fact proud and I could read the admiration in his eyes.

'Very true, brother.' Elijah agreed, his tone completely sincere as he looked to Hayley holding out his hand, 'I'm Elijah; I apologize for my brothers inhospitable introduction. Kimberly is of course correct, you are welcome here for as long as you need.'

Hayley looked a little taken aback, by Elijah himself as well as his speech, she glanced over to me and I gave her an encouraging nod. Without further hesitation she placed her hand into Elijah's, going to shake it, but Elijah turned her hand over and tenderly kissed her knuckles; we all heard her heart skip a beat in response. Klaus and I shared a knowing look as we witnessed the obvious attraction between the pair; I noticed that Finn had also joined us in the hallway and he was looking in between Hayley and Elijah with an incredulous expression on his face.

'Bestie, what have you done to piss Nik off now?' Kol asked, his tone amused as he came to a stop at the top of the staircase, his arm around Elena's waist. Elena was wearing one of Kol's T-shirts, while Kol was naked aside from his boxers.

'I didn't-,' I started to explain but I was cut off when Bekah stormed down the stairs in her pajamas; a long sleeved top and shorts, completely pissed.

'What the bloody hell is all the racquet about?' She demanded, coming to a stop when she noticed the new girl standing by Elijah, 'who are you?'

'This is Hayley, she's a werewolf and she's going to be staying with us for a while as I look into her pack's whereabouts,' I said, gesturing to Hayley and then pointing to everyone else as I named them.

'That's Kol, Elena, Rebekah, Elijah, Finn and this is Klaus,' I finished gesturing to the much calmer hybrid next to me.

'Hey,' she said, I could feel how overwhelmed she was and I sent her a comforting wave to calm her a little.

'What are we running a hotel now?' Bekah asked, astounded that I had offered a stranger a place to stay.

I rolled my eyes at her comment with a smile on my face, 'no, Bekah I'm just helping her out that's all,' I said giving her a wink when she rolled her eyes at me in return, 'anyway, let's go and find you a room.' I went to move away from Nik but he gripped my waist tighter, not ready to let me go yet.

'Allow me,' Elijah offered, gesturing for her to walk up the staircase first, I gave her an encouraging smile when she looked over to me and she walked forward without further hesitation.

'Elijah definitely fancies her,' Kol said bluntly, earning him a slap on the arm from Elena.

'Definitely,' I agreed, sharing a nod with Kol while Elena looked at me, astounded that I agreed with him.

'Well if we're done taking in strays, I'm going back to bed.' Bekah muttered, storming off up the stairs, everyone but me and Nik following behind her.

I wound my other arm around Nik's waist pulling him so his front aligned with mine, I rested my forehead against his before I whispered, 'are we actually alone?'

He chuckled as the hands he had on my waist moved lower, making me bite my lip in anticipation, 'I believe so, love,' he whispered back. We shared a grin before he captured my lips in a hungry kiss. One of my hands tangled in his soft curls while the other went to caress the side of his face briefly before it joined the other in his hair. His hands moved down to my ass, squeezing both cheeks, making me moan; I felt his lips quirk up into a smile for a moment before his lips continued to move against mine. He lifted me up suddenly; I gasped in surprise but wasted no time in wrapping my legs around his waist, moaning as he used my shock as leverage to join my tongue in a duel for dominance. It didn't take him long to win and when he did I felt myself being placed on the cold sheets of our bed as he rested over me. He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine, gazing into my eyes with a soft look on his face, though I did notice he was a little regretful as well.

'What's on your mind?' I asked him, my voice soft as I moved one of my hands to the side of his face, my thumb moving back and forth comfortingly.

'The way I acted earlier, I-,' he cut off, closing his eyes and leaning into my touch, as his regret seemed to grow, 'I'm sorry,' he whispered, his voice breaking as if he wasn't used to saying it. I could feel his sincerity; he meant what he was saying, as well as his vulnerability over him actually apologizing. I felt my whole face soften as I leaned forward and placed a tender kiss onto his lips, giving him a gentle smile when he opened his eyes in surprise.

'Niklaus Mikaelson, you don't have to apologize to me; I knew who you were long before we were told we were mates. You're paranoid, you have a temper, you're arrogant and you're sweet, strong, caring, incredible and I love you because those things are what make you who you are.' I murmured, my voice only loud enough for him to hear as my thumb continued to move back and forth; I kissed away the stray tear that had fallen down his cheek. He stared into my eyes for a long moment, probably trying to decide if I was being sincere or not, when he realized I was I saw the astonishment light up his face as he became speechless.

'I'll never understand what I did right in all my life to deserve you,' he whispered once he'd gathered himself enough to speak.

'You're you.' I answered simply, flushing over his compliment; I wasn't anything special, and in all honesty I was grateful to have him.

Klaus shook his head in wonderment with a small, genuine smile on his face as he kissed my cheek, before he moved to connect his lips back to mine. The kiss was soft, tender, and affectionate and it made my heart pound in my chest while my skin tingled from the sparks flowing between us. His mouth moved to my neck, nipping and sucking as he went, while I moved my head to the side to give him better access, one of my hands tangled in his curls and the other travelled down his back until I reached the bottom of his shirt, where I slipped my hand my hand underneath and ran my fingertips up his spine, making him shiver. His hands moved to my waist, gently trailing up as he pushed my crop top up, removing his lips from my skin for a brief moment to push it over my head. When his lips came back to my neck, he began to trial lower, over my collarbone and down between the valley of my breasts, his hands coming to my bra and ripping it away without removing his lips from my skin.

My own hands moved to rip his shirt from his body; his lips quirked in amusement at my antics before my hips arched as he took one of my nipples into his mouth, his teeth grazing my skin gently as his tongue flicked over the erect nipple tauntingly, making me moan in pleasure. My hips were dancing with anticipation and I was on the verge of flipping him over and ripping off our remaining clothes when he seemed to sense my desperation; in a flash he removed all pieces of fabric that were in between us before he was back on top of me, one hand tangled in my hair as he held my mouth to his, the other gently trailing down my side, down to my leg coming to a stop to just above my knee where he lifted my leg to link around his hip, aligning our lower halves perfectly. He sunk into me tantalizingly slowly, my sounds of pleasure being swallowed in the kiss; his tongue moved against mine and the movement matched the rhythm of his hips. My hands moved to meet at the dip in his spine, my nails coming down to break his skin before I clawed outwards, making him growl against my lips while I moaned as his hands came to grip me in the dip between my spine and ass, holding my hips in place as the pace he was moving in and out of me increased. I could feel myself about to fall apart and I moved my head to the side, knowing what I needed to reach my climax, he understood what I wanted and bought his hybrid face forward and bit into my mark without hesitation. I moaned at the build up of pleasure, bringing my own quadbrid face forward as I bit over his already open mark, I groaned at how incredible he tasted before I completely fell over the edge, my eyes rolling into the back of my head and my screams of ecstasy being swallowed by his shoulder. I felt him follow closely behind me, growling in satisfaction against my skin. We seemed to remove our fangs in unison, licking away the remaining blood before the wound healed as we tried to get our breath back. Not long afterwards, we both fell into a peaceful sleep, completely spent from the day's activities.

The next morning was just as busy as the first; Elijah and Finn volunteered to stay with Hayley to make sure she didn't run into any trouble, which in all honesty I didn't think that she would, but it was better safe than sorry. Bekah, Elena and Kol went to check in with Sophie and see what the next stage of the plan was going to be while Nik and I went to Marcel to initiate stage one of the plan. I had my arm linked though Nik's as we made our way into Marcel's house; it was the only kind of touching we could get away with in public while we had the vampires of New Orleans convinced we were twins. Nik mentioned to me that Marcel's current living quarters used to be his a hundred years ago, and I could feel his longing and nostalgia as he mentioned it; he missed calling this place home. We found Marcel in one of the bedrooms on the second floor, him and a few other men crouched at a male vampire's bedside; he was looking pretty sickly, his skin was pale and sweaty, not to mention the open and infected looking bite wound on the side of his neck.

'That is not pretty,' I muttered before I could stop myself, my nose wrinkling in disgust as I tried not to look at the injury.

'What do you two want?' Marcel demanded, his tone far from friendly, causing Nik and I to share a raised eyebrow look before we returned our gazes to his.

'Well, my brother told me what he did last night, lashing out and having one of his temper tantrums,' I started, shaking my head in faux disappointment, 'I told him that he couldn't take his anger out on innocent bystanders so he's here to propose a peace offering.' I raised my brow at Nik as a gesture for him to go ahead, he shook his head in faux frustration but I could feel his amusement as he reached to the stand behind us and grabbed an empty glass, biting into his hand and allowing his blood to flow into it.

'As my sister so eloquently put it, I had a chance to sleep on my actions last night and I realized that my actions were a little rash.' He paused offering the glass of blood to Marcel, he reluctantly took it though he looked a little confused, 'my blood will heal him. Me and my family would like to build a home here, if you'll forgive my actions and allow us to stay.' Nik finished, offering Marcel a small regretful smile that made me think he could be an actor, the performance he was giving was that convincing.

Marcel handed the glass to one of his day walkers, telling him to give the glass to the man suffering from the werewolf bite then he turned back to us, staring for a moment before his face broke out into a grin and he laughed, placing a hand either side of Klaus' smirking face. He may have had Klaus fooled with his quick offer for us to stay in New Orleans, but I could feel his anger and apprehension towards us all, and I knew I would have to remain on my guard around him for the time being.

'Of course, friend, you and your family are welcome as long as you'd like.' He offered, though he looked like he was putting an awful amount of effort in not grinding out his words.

'Wonderful,' I said, smiling brightly, 'I was wondering if you could do me a tiny little favor?'

'Absolutely, what can I do for you?' He asked, seeming to genuinely mean his offer.

'Well when you said werewolves were banished from the quarter, I'm assuming some lived her up until you initiated the ban, right?' I made sure to keep my voice casual as if I was just vaguely curious, to avoid any suspicion.

'That's right. Those that were living here at the time either left town completely or some relocated to the Bayou. They don't give us much trouble there, we don't bother them and they don't bother us.' He smiled as if he was proud of his solution; I couldn't feel any suspicion coming off him which suited me perfectly, though I wouldn't put it past him to have some of his men trail me because I had shown an interest in the werewolves.

'Good motto,' I offered, trying to make out that I liked his idea, in truth I hated it.

'I think so,' Marcel smiled kindly before he abruptly clapped his hands together, 'well I should get moving, I have a town to run after all; you guys let me or one of my guys know if you need anything.'

'We will,' Nik smirked before we turned and made our way out of the house, our arms linked together as we left Marcel and his minions behind.

After we made sure that no one was following us we flashed to the Bayou, managing to find several kinds of werewolf scents; we had to decipher through each one so that we could focus on them singularly and only talk to one pack at a time. Of course, none of the werewolves knew nothing about the Crescent Moon pack, and so far all of them had been telling the truth when we asked; I assumed it was the part werewolf that they could smell on us that made them happy to open up. I was just about to give up all hope when we came across what looked like an abandoned cabin; you know the kind you see in horror films where the serial killer holds them in a secluded cabin in the middle of no where because no one can hear them scream? Yeah, well those were the kinds of images that were flashing through my mind as we approached the cabin, which we only did because we could hear a heartbeat coming from inside, though my hand did tighten around Klaus' arm much to his amusement. I could feel that the person who was inside was calm even though I suspected they could hear us approaching, it was as if they were expecting us, which was too creepy for me to consider for too long.

'Klaus, Kimberly, I have been waiting for you two to show your faces around here.' A female voice said, a young woman no more than eighteen stepping from through the doorway after she had finished speaking. She was wearing clothes that were far too big for her; a long black T-shirt that I suspected was a man's and denim jeans with an over grown grey wool cardigan. Her hair was chestnut brown and cut off just below her chin; her eyes matched her hair almost exactly, her gaze shining with admiration as she looked in between Klaus and I. We shared a look as we both realized that her scent wasn't one of a werewolf; she was human.

'Who are you?' Klaus asked he shifted as if he was going to move me behind him in a protective gesture, but I simply gripped his arm tighter keeping him in place and silently telling him that we were in this together.

'I am Eve and I know who you're looking for.' She said, her tone very matter of fact, causing Klaus and I to share an amused smirk.

'Is that so?' I inquired, a little curious.

'You're here for Hayley, the girl from the Crescent Moon pack.' She stated plainly.

'How do you know that?' Klaus said, his voice calm but there was an underlying threat there that told Eve to tell the truth, which made me roll my eyes but otherwise I didn't comment.

'The pack knew she was here as soon as she stepped into New Orleans, they were drawn to her like any wolves are to those who share their blood. We heard that she was rescued by one of the Original ones last night through some of our trusted human contacts that reside in the city.' She looked over to me, giving me a soft smile before she continued, 'the Crescent Moon pack was cursed by a witch under Marcel's control; they were cursed to spend everyday in their wolf form, except on the night of a full moon, when they are able to transform to their human form for a few hours.'

'He didn't do that to all of the packs though, why just this one?' I asked, confused.

'Because the Crescent Moon pack has always been considered as royalty among the werewolf community, with them out of commission it has left the other packs without any form of leadership, making a revolution against the vampires less likely.' Eve answered as she stepped from the porch and stood in front of us with her arms crossed, 'you need to tell Hayley to be careful; anyone with the Crescent mark is basically a walking target for death.'

'Do you know the witch who cast the curse?' Nik asked, frowning in thought as he considered Marcel using a witch to do the very thing he had banned them from doing.

'No. Who ever it is Marcel keeps locked up tight and protected. No one knows who it is,' Eve answered; I gave Klaus a small discrete nod to indicate that she was in fact telling the truth.

'Well do me a favor; there's a full moon tomorrow night. Could you tell the Crescent Moon pack to come to the plantation? Hayley will be there and I'm sure that she would love the chance to meet you all.' I said, my mind already reeling with the things that I would need to get ready for them.

'S-sure,' Eve stuttered, it was the first time in the conversation that she had sounded unsure and when I focused on her I could feel her wonder and astonishment, I didn't know why and I didn't have time to ponder over it either. I moved forward and gave her a one armed hug and waved goodbye as me and Klaus flashed away from the Bayou, but we stopped just on the edge of the city, still surrounded by trees where we could talk without being overheard or watched, though to be safe we spoke through our thoughts.

It's a witch Nik. That's why he knows whenever someone is doing magic; he has a witch, one he trusts and one with a lot of power.

I think you're right, love.

I don't know what he hopes to accomplish by keeping the species apart like this, all he's doing is creating hate between them all, hate that doesn't need to exist.

Some call it a necessary risk, love.

Well I think it's a means to an end; the witches will be able to do magic freely again at some point and the werewolves will break the curse. What does he think they'll do then? Skip happily off into the sunset? No they'll be vengeful and they'll come for the vampires.

You know, I think you were born for this.

What do you mean?

You were born to lead. You're going to make an excellent Queen. He placed a soft kiss to my forehead, while I looked down, flushing from the compliment.

You don't think I notice that do you? He asked, my eyes moving back up to meet his in surprise before he continued, every time someone compliments you, you look away or change the subject as if you physically can't accept the commendation. He moved his hand underneath my chin to make sure my gaze stayed on his before he went on, you, Kimberly Mikaelson, are an incredible woman and I love you. I felt my eyes glisten at his words when I felt the sincerity coming from him.

You called me Mikaelson, I replied, not knowing what else to say.

He smiled, placing a lingering kiss to my lips before he pulled away; you are a Mikaelson, love. And you'll always be considered one… that is unless you don't want to be?

Of course I want to be, Nik. I replied with a smile before I leaned forward and placed a kiss to his jaw, and I love you too, Niklaus Mikaelson.

We shared a genuine smile before we made our way back to the plantation, our arms linked together as we moved as one. It only took us a few minutes to get there and I went to seek out Hayley straight away while Nik offered me a brief but passionate kiss before he went to find Marcel; he was working on getting into his inner circle; Sophie's instruction. I found Hayley watching Elijah and Finn engaged in what looked like an intense game of chess, though she looked amused more than anything.

'Hayley, I have news.' I said, moving to sit opposite her on the other side of Elijah and Finn; we were both over looking the chessboard, talking over their silent game.

'What did you find out?' She asked eagerly.

I told her what Eve had told me; about the curse, about what her birthmark meant, everything. Elijah and Finn stopped in their game to listen as well; Elijah agreed with me about Marcel having a powerful witch as his secret weapon, as did Finn. Hayley didn't comment much, in fact when I focused on her I could feel how disheartened she was; I was by her side in a flash, my arm wrapped around her shoulders, amplifying the comfort I was sending towards her.

'I should also mention, I asked Eve to tell the rest of the pack to come here on the night of the full moon. They'll be human for a few hours, I mean it won't be for very long and-,' I was cut off from my ramblings as Hayley tackled me in a hug, almost knocking us both to the floor, but Elijah and Finn reached out, steadying us.

'I can't thank you enough, honestly,' she murmured, almost too low for me to hear as she clung to me.

'Don't worry about it,' I replied as I hugged her back, not knowing what else to say, anyone else would have done the same thing, right? She pulled back from the hug after a moment, I noted that Elijah and Finn had returned to their game, though I had a sneaking suspicion that they were still listening.

'Once we find out who this witch is, I'm hoping we can convince her to do the spell to reverse the curse, from the sounds of it she's powerful, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. But I don't know how long that will be, if we start sniffing around Marcel too much too early, he'll get suspicious and we may never find out.' I warned her, wanting her to be prepared for how long this could actually take.

'Of course, I get that you can't just fix this over night, and honestly you've all done more for me than I would have ever expected.' She said, giving me a warm smile, which I returned.

'Anyway, we have a lot of stuff we need to get ready for tomorrow,' I said, jumping up, almost knocking over the chess board, much to Elijah and Finn's amusement. I sent them an apologetic look before I walked off towards the kitchen muttering indecipherable things underneath my breath. I jumped a mile when I felt a hand on my shoulder and moved to pin whoever it was against the wall, only to come face to face with Kol's amused and shocked expression causing me to drop my hand immediately.

'Sorry, bestie. I have a lot on my mind, I guess I'm a little jumpy,' I apologized, offering him a sheepish smile whilst trying to ignore Hayley and Elena's laughter coming from the doorway of the kitchen.

'What's on your mind?' He asked, once he had sent a murderous enough look to the pair to his left to cease their giggles, they may have stopped laughing but they were struggling to contain their amusement.

'I'm planning a party for the Crescent Moon pack,' I answered as I began rooting through the cupboards to look at the kinds of food we already had in, of course we had an inordinate amount, far more than a house of vampire's needed, but was perfect for throwing a werewolf party.

'You're what?' Kol said, sounding astounded.

'You heard me.' I muttered, pulling out one of the giant containers from one of the bottom cupboards as I placed four loafs of bread on the side.

'Do you need help?' Elena asked, coming to stand beside me, Hayley moving with her looking as if she wanted to ask the same thing.

'Yes, you make cheese,' I handed Elena one loafs with a block of cheese, before I handed Hayley another with five packets of ham, 'you make ham,' I looked over to Kol, smiling devilishly as I handed him another loaf with the peanut butter and jelly, 'you do peanut butter and jelly.' I winked, laughing at his shocked face, as if he couldn't believe that he was actually being roped into helping. But in all fairness, other than sputtering a few times to show his unhappiness, he got on with his task without further complaint.

Hayley took a little longer with her sandwiches as we had our vampire speed to help us, but she was finished not ten minutes after us, at that time I already had thirty ham and cheese quiches in the oven along with a hundred mini sausage rolls. They didn't take long and when they were finished I put them out on the side to cool, while I asked Kol to place his sandwiches into a container while I moved the remaining sandwiches into containers as well; Elena and Hayley went to the garage to see if there were any tables that could be moved outside that the food could be placed on. By the time they had returned I had all of the food stored in the fridge, which did take some skillful balancing and maneuvering, but Kol and I managed it. Though I did have to place a note on the door warning those who opened it to be careful.

Elena and Hayley informed me that they had found two tables that the food and drink could be placed on as well as a gazebo, encase it rained. They had already put them up and I gave them both a high five in thanks. For the next task I asked everyone to sort through clothes that they didn't really wear or want, seeing as the wolves that turned up tomorrow would essentially be naked otherwise. Kol handed over so many jeans and t-shirts I actually asked him if he had any clothes left; he laughed and assured me he did. Elena offered me some jeans, leggings, vest tops and long sleeved shirts and I contributed the same kinds of clothes as well. I didn't ask Hayley, knowing that she barely had the clothes on her back and I didn't want her to feel bad that she didn't have anything to offer. I folded all of the clothes up for now, placing them on the dining table by the patio door that led into the back garden, so that they would only need to be placed outside tomorrow. Once it was all done, I hugged everyone in thanks before I told them to go and relax in the living room while I made us some food for dinner, seeing as we were nearing six o'clock in the evening by that point; of course we could all just have a cup of blood to sedate our hunger, aside from Hayley, but I thought it was important to have a nice meal, as well as a cup of blood. We were vampires after all, though we could enjoy normal food, we still needed blood to survive.

After I pondered over the ingredients that were left in the fridge I decided to make lasagna with garlic bread and salad. It was fairly easy to make and with my new found vampire speed I had everything in the oven within fifteen minutes while I moved on to making a couple of bowls of salad, once that was done, I had the table set for eight in a flash. I was just pulling the lasagna and garlic bread out of the oven when Nik joined me in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around my waist and nuzzling into my neck.

'I was wondering how long you were going to be gone for,' I murmured, placing the food gently on the countertop to assure that I didn't drop it.

Nik only hummed in answer as he placed kisses along my jaw, his hands moving down over my stomach and coming to a rest on my hips. I turned around lacing my hands around his neck as we shared a smirk.

'I heard you've had an eventful day, love,' Nik commented, resting his forehead against mine as he used his hands on my lower back to pull my entire body flush against his.

'Kol, Hayley and Elena helped, it wasn't just me,' I answered, my breathing becoming shallower as I struggled to form a coherent thought with him this close to me.

'Always so modest,' Nik murmured against my neck, his hot breath causing goose bumps to rise on my skin.

'Honest,' I disagreed, fighting the urge to bring his lips to mine, knowing that we probably wouldn't stop and seeing as the rest of our family were a few doors away and could walk in at any moment us getting caught was highly likely, especially with the supernatural hearing. I placed a kiss to his cheek before I reluctantly moved away from him, much to his disapproval.

If you keep doing that we're going to end up having sex on the kitchen counter. I told him through my thoughts.

So? He smirked.

So, I'd rather not risk having sex where we could be walked in on at any moment.

Alright, love. He chuckled; placing a kiss to my forehead before he took the salad bowls from my hands and placed them on the table. I gave him a smile in thanks as I cut the lasagna into eight pieces and placed it in the centre as well as a baguette of garlic bread on either side, with a bowl of salad following each baguette. Nik sat at the head seat on the left sipping the cup of blood I had already laid out for him. I had given Hayley a root beer, which was waiting for her in her place setting next to the other head seat where I presumed Elijah would be sitting.

'Dinner!' I shouted, too lazy to go to the living room and actually gather them all into the room, though it would have literally only taken me two seconds, but I was hungry…that was my excuse anyway.

'You cooked?' Elena was the first in the kitchen, taking her seat at the dining table opposite me.

'I cooked,' I confirmed as I reached forward and placed a slice of lasagna onto my plate with the serving spoon before I offered it to Nik while I moved to grab a few pieces of garlic bread, placing a few on Nik's plate as well.

'Hayley, you'll wanna sit there sweetie, I don't think you'll favor the beverage laid out for everyone else,' I told her, gesturing to her place, laughing when she wrinkled her nose at my comment before she gave me a warm smile and took the bowl of lasagna, helping herself to a piece when it reached her.

'I can't remember the last time we had a home cooked meal,' Kol mused, moaning in pleasure as he ate a bite of his lasagna.

Elena rolled her eyes while I laughed and Nik chuckled, everyone else seemed to be enjoying their food too much to respond to Kol's antics.

'It's been centuries,' Bekah agreed after she swallowed her mouthful of food, only to immediately add another when she had finished speaking.

'It's nice to eat as a family,' Elijah toasted, taking a brief sip of his blood before he continued eating, apparently enjoying that more than the cup of blood he usually had for his dinner. Everyone else lifted their glasses in response to his toast, all of us taking a brief sip before we continued to eat. I was happy that everyone was enjoying their food, though a little amused that they were all eating as if it were about to be taken away from them at any moment. We ate the rest of our meal in comfortable silence, the only sounds being cutlery scraping on plates, the sounds of people gulping their drink or sounds of pleasure as they ate. Once everyone was finished, Finn, Elijah and Kol insisted on clearing away. I thanked them before I moved to get up and shower, but Nik kept me in place with a hand on my thigh, I frowned over to him in confusion but other than quirking his brow, he didn't answer.

I looked over to everyone else at the table, feeling a little nervous because they were all grinning at me like they knew something I didn't.

'What the heck is going on?' I muttered.

Their grins only grew, Bekah returned to the kitchen carrying two big bags that looked heavy, even for her supernatural strength. She lifted them onto the table and pushed them towards me, her grin widening as my confusion grew. Kol, Elijah and Finn rejoined us at the table and they chuckled as they took in my expression.

'Am I missing something?' I asked.

'Did you really think we would forget your birthday, love?' Nik asked, smirking at me when my jaw fell open in shock; I had remembered it was my birthday in the early hours of this morning when I was getting asked for I.D. by Cami, but since then I had rescued a werewolf, looked for her pack, gone with Nik to heal a vampire… lets just say it had slipped my mind… again.

'You forgot didn't you?' Elena asked from the other side of the table, I could feel her amusement but I couldn't see it, the bags that Bekah had placed on the table were that big.

'Maybe. In my defense a lot has been going on.' I muttered, before I looked to everyone else, 'how did you guys know?'

'Sweetheart if Nik and Elena didn't already know then I would have when I had your drivers license updated,' Bekah said, rolling her eyes in amusement, 'now enough talking, open your presents; they're from all of us.'

'Okay,' I murmured, standing up to peer inside of one of the bags; it had tissue paper over the top and when I peeled it away I gasped in surprise; inside were all seven of the Harry Potter books, they were all first editions and they were signed. My expression must have been one of complete shock because everyone laughed lightly in amusement over my reaction. I couldn't believe it. After I had recovered from my shock I moved on to the next bag which were singular presents; Elijah got me a royal blue leather bound journal, Elena got me a silver Pandora bracelet with three charms on it; a book, a sister charm and a paw charm which she insisted was to represent my werewolf side. Bekah had put together a photo album that had 'Always and Forever' engraved on the front in elegant script, all of the pictures she had collected of me and Nik were in there, some that I didn't know she even had, as well as pictures of me and the rest of the family; some were candid and some were ones she had asked us to pose for. Finn gifted me a collection of books that told the Mikaelson family history, Kol got me some earrings that allowed me to understand and speak any language and Hayley gave me a beautiful handmade leather woven bracelet which I placed on my wrist beside the other bracelet I had been gifted. Once the bags were empty I made my way around everyone, hugging and thanking each and every one of them before I stood next to Nik offering him the same treatment with the addition of a kiss on the cheek.

Not long after, Elena and Kol surprised me with a red velvet birthday cake, my favorite; they forced me to make a wish before I blew out the candles, once I had we all had a slice and I found myself questioning how on earth I had gotten so lucky to have such an amazing family who cared about me so much. We made our way to bed soon after, Nik helping me carry the presents up to our room; I placed them on the dressing table, deciding to tidy them away in the morning, I was exhausted. I had a quick shower and dressed in one of Nik's t-shirts before I came back out into the bedroom, about to climb straight into bed and pass out when I noticed that Nik was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at a square velvet box in his hands, he looked so lost in his thoughts that he didn't seem to hear me come in.

'Are you alright, Nik?' I asked, my voice soft as I tried to avoid startling him.

His eyes shot up to mine and I noticed that he seemed nervous, I sent him a comforting wave without thinking and it seemed to give him the courage to stand and walk over to me. His hands toyed with the box he held in his hands and I could see him struggling to find the words he wanted to say to me, I gently bought my hands around both of his, holding them together.

'You don't need to be nervous with me, okay? No matter what,' I reminded him, which I only ever had to do when he was struggling to let his heart speak instead of his head; Klaus Mikaelson wasn't used to speaking in a way that wasn't threatening or rude; whatever it was about me I seemed to bring out the repressed part of him that spoke from his emotions.

'I didn't want to give you this in front of everyone else, because this is only for you, no one else,' he finally said, his voice only loud enough for me to hear, as he gently placed the box into my hands. I took it, giving him a soft smile before I slowly opened it, nervous because he was nervous. When I saw what it was my eyes glistened and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from outright sobbing; it was a ring; the silver metal wound together to form an eternity symbol at the front and it held an engraving on the inside of the band at the back it read; Always and Forever, in elegant script.

I looked up to Klaus and gave him a watery smile, 'it's beautiful, Nik,' I whispered, only loud enough for him to hear.

He offered me a bright, relieved and genuine smile in response as he pulled the ring from the box and gently slipped it onto my ring finger on my right hand.

'It's a promise ring,' he murmured once he had placed the ring completely onto my finger, 'a promise to you, and a promise to us.'

'I love it and I love you,' I replied my hands going to the sides of his face as my thumbs moved back and forth gently before I moved forward and captured his lips with my own in a kiss that was charged with love, promise and forever.

There's chapter twenty seven! I hope you enjoy it- let me know what you think! Sorry for the lack of Marcel but here I was really focusing on introducing Hayley; there will be more Marcel next time, I promise! :)

A huge thank you to vargas93, 402 and MadelineT for choosing to either follow or favorite my story- it means a lot :)

BeccaSco: I did love this chapter! I was laughing so hard when Elijah suggested they act like twins haha. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and haha I did too when I came up with the idea :)

XxSunnaxX:…I think… I dislike Sophie XD Good character with an manipulating attitude, BUT she'll see what comes, whens someone treats one of the Mikaelson family * muhahaha * It's so funny to see them playing with Marcel, I am curious as what's going to happen next :) And about Kim and Klaus being twins… BRILLIANT! I couldn't stop myself from partying, when I read it :D Super idea! Xx Thank you, lovely I'm glad you enjoyed it :) I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Sophie yet, but you're right; as of now she's being very manipulative, so it could go either way. I can't wait to write more interactions with Marcel either, he was a little sparse in this chapter but that was because I was mainly focused on introducing Hayley, but there will be more Marcel next time. And thank you, I'm glad you liked the idea; I had to come up with something because I want to save the fact that Kim is a quadbrid and Klaus' mate for a later time when it will be more of an advantage rather than a weakness, plus her extra abilities give them a serious head start while the vampires don't know what they are.