Elijah smiled at me, his eyes hopeful.

"What do you say Elena?"

"I… I…"

"What a lovely sentiment," said a voice from the door, one I knew. My head shot up and I turned. Dahlia was stood in the entrance to the courtyard, watching us.

"This is a private affair," said Elijah.

"Well I must have misplaced my invitation. After all, I'm family." Her eyes swept the room and landed on Freya who was cowering behind Finn. "My sweet Freya. I was worried about you."

"So you're the infamous Dahlia?" said Kol, strolling up onto the platform beside me.

"I am indeed. And you must be… Kol?

"I am. Father of one of those children that you seem so intent on taking away." He folded his arms. "And I'm telling you. Get out, now."

Dahlia laughed and didn't move.

"I second that," said Elijah. "You are not welcome here."

"Well give me what is mine and I'll leave." She shrugged. "And I promise no one will be hurt."

"You don't seem to understand Dahlia, you have no power here. This is our home and… as of tonight, Elena is our queen," said Finn, joining me and his brothers. "All she has to do is give the word and every single person in here will tear you apart. And I can only speak for myself but I will not be letting you take away those little girls. You took my sister away from me and I will die before I let you take away my nieces."

Dahlia locked her eyes on me and I saw the tension in her body, preparing to attack. She took a step towards me. As one, every person in the hall moved to stand between me and her. She froze and her glare intensified. She took another step and immediately the vampires darted forward, the witches raised their arms to stop her. Dahlia raised her own hand to counterattack, sweeping her eyes over the group. She seemed to think better of it and lowered her hand, stepping back.

"You got yourself a little army and you think that because you have a title you're above everything? You're not above this deal, Elena. I expect it to be upheld. I'm not a monster… so I'll give you… one week to say goodbye. And then I will return and I will slaughter anybody who gets in the way."

She turned and swept out. I buried my face in Elijah's shirt. He made a soft noise and gently prodded me. Oh right. Queen. Responsibilities. I turned and faced the gathered crowd.

"Umm… thank you all. For… that." I bit my lip, unsure of what to say. "I'm not going to lie to you about what is going on. That was Dahlia. She is one of the oldest witches in the world. She… she believes that she has a claim over my children. They are the firstborn of the vampires Kol and Elijah and the hybrid Klaus. Don't ask for how… I don't really understand it. But as the firstborn, they are naturally powerful. And along with the vampire and wolf blood… everything is stronger. But… they are children. They are my babies, they're not even a month old. And she wants to take them from me. From us." I paused. "I understand if this seems daunting. And… I know you're all here of your own free will and you chose to ally with me but… if you want to leave now, knowing what enemy we face, I won't hold it against you."

No one moved.

"Thank you. Okay, all the teenage witches, you go home. Same with anyone who has kids to take care of. Everyone else… report to Elijah, he will organize some kind of guard system. Marcel, you know the vampires better than anyone else, you help him." He nodded. "Jackson, you can't really do much in your current state so, head back to your pack."

There was a murmur of agreement and people began to depart. I looked at Elijah.

"Can you handle this? I need a shower and to hug my daughters."

"I… sure." I smiled slightly and headed upstairs. At least he wasn't pushing me for an answer. Given the circumstances, marriage was the last thing I wanted to think about.

I went to my room and set the bath to run. My wolf sat by the door, body tense.

"You don't need to guard me." I told him. He glanced over and remained where he was. I dropped the sheet. I noticed the wolf closed his eyes the moment my body was exposed. "Such a gentleman."

I went through to the bathroom and climbed into the bath. I watched as the water turned pink as the caked on blood began to flake and dissolve. I closed my eyes, trying to wrap my head around everything that had happened tonight. I knew I'd made the right choice now. I just hoped it would be enough to keep Dahlia away until I figured out a more permanent solution. I needed to talk to the spirits again, maybe Esther would be able to shed some light onto what

I ducked my head under the water and washed off the last of the blood, pleased to be clean again. I wrapped a towel around myself and went back into my room. I blinked, surprised. Kol was sitting on my bed, looking down at the floor.

"Kol…?"

"Please don't marry him…" he said softly, his voice barely audible.

"What?" I came closer. He lifted his head and looked at me. There were tears on his cheeks.

"Please… please Elena, don't marry him." I sighed.

"Kol… Priorities. There is a psycho witch trying to steal my children. I'm not marrying anyone right now."

"But you want to. Don't you? Of course you do… perfect Elijah… first choice for everything… He knew I was going to ask and he just had to get in there before I did…" I sat beside him.

"What are you talking about Kol?"

He pulled a small ring box from his pocket and pushed it into my hand.

"I was going to ask you to marry me. I tried to… days ago… when you first come back… I couldn't get it out. And I heard Elijah was going to… and… I knew you wouldn't pick me… that's why I've been such an asshole to you… I don't… I don't care if you're with Finn or Klaus or Elijah… I just… I care if you're not… with me."

I closed my eyes, breathing slowly.

"Kol, I care about you… a lot. But I can't deal with this right now. I have two children, a psychotic witch, and a city full of supernatural creatures that I'm now bonded with to deal with. Not to mention the fact that Klaus is still missing. I just… I need some time."

"Okay…" Kol shuffled to the door and left the room. I felt incredibly cruel. I'd never seen him look so defeated. I put on my pyjamas and padded down the hall to the twins room. They were curled up in their cots, sleeping peacefully. I carefully tucked their stuffed toys in beside them and brushed some of Lilah's hair from her face. I wouldn't let her have them.

I left the room and whistled softly. A few of the wolves came over and gathered in front of me.

"I want you guys to sleep in here tonight, okay? Keep an eye on them for me?" The wolves wagged their tails and trotted inside. I looked out at the courtyard and saw a few vampires dotted around, patrolling. One caught my eye. I nodded to him and returned to my room.

My wolf was sitting by the door still.

"Do you think you can guard me just as efficiently from the bed?" I asked, perching on the edge. He wagged his tail and came over to the bed. "Am I a bad person for not saying yes?" I played with his ears. "I do love Kol. And Elijah. I love them all in a very complicated way that I don't understand really. But there more important things going on right now. Like the girls. And if I'm honest… I don't want to pick."

I remembered what Katherine had said about the Salvatore brothers. It's okay to love them both. But... I couldn't… could I?

"Okay, no more romance. Not until I know the twins are safe. Now, shall we see if the ancestors want to chat?"

I got off the bed, turned out the lights and lit a candle. I sat on the floor and the wolf sat beside me. I closed my eyes, concentrating on my breathing.

"Is anyone there?" Silence. "Hello? Please… I need… guidance. If you're there, show yourself."

"My dear… all you needed to do was ask." I opened my eyes to see a beautiful redheaded woman kneeling on the other side of the candle.

"Hello… what's your name?"

"In the mortal world I was known as Genevieve."

"Right. Nice to meet you."

"Were you hoping for Esther?"

"No… she makes me a little uncomfortable if I'm honest."

"I can understand that. Now what is it you need?"

"I need to know how to stop Dahlia… I know that everything has a weakness… balance of nature and all that, nothing can be truly immortal… but I don't know what it is."

"You have all the tools you need Elena, you just have to work out how to put them together."

"Could you give me an answer that's not cryptic?" She laughed softly.

"I apologize. But in truth this is something you'll need to work out for yourself."

"Can you give me a clue?"

"The elements that forged Dahlia in life will also be her undoing."

"Anything else?" She shook her head. "Is there any answers you can give me?"

"That depends on what questions you want to ask." I looked at the wolf.

"Do you know where he came from?"

"I do indeed."

"So… where?"

She reached out and offered her hand to the wolf who sniffed.

"He is from our world."

"He's a ghost?"

"It's complicated. Not everyone who dies is trapped on the other side. Some find peace, some roam. Your wolf was in life a lycanthrope and in death he has assumed the form that he prefers. I don't know if that's peace for him or purgatory, but you should be grateful to have him at your side."

"That… does explain some things." The wolf whined and looked away. "It's okay buddy."

"I wish I could offer you more help."

"It's fine. These are my problems to deal with." I bit my lip.

"Problems have a way of finding those who involve themselves with the Mikaelsons. You would do your best to distance yourself from them."

"It's a bit late for that…" I looked down. "Thank you Genevieve. I hope to see you again."

"And you Elena. Think about what I said. I apologize I couldn't be more helpful."

"I'm surprised you guys are helping me at all. I know you're not fond of nature being out of balance."

"I will be honest, there are many who are not happy. But your children are a small blip on the grand scale of things and while their presence has caused a slight disruption, the unity that you have fostered between the people here far outweighs the negatives. We can allow two… loopholes to exist."

"Good to know. Goodbye."

I blew out the candle and Genevieve vanished. I turned on the lights and faced the wolf. He wagged his tail.

"So you're some old dead werewolf?" He jumped up onto the bed. "I don't know why you're here… but I'm glad you are." I sat on the bed beside him. "That's one mystery solved. Now I just need to work out what to do about Dahlia. And then… everything else."

I closed my eyes and curled up, arms around the wolf.