"In an alternative universe there is no Elena and Caroline is the main character.–Kkhusi

"The Michaelson and Salvatore families have been enemies for as long as anyone can remember, but Kol and Caroline (as a Salvatore) are madly in love and have to hide their relationship from everyone they love, or face the consequences. (Basically a modern day Romeo and Juliet with less death ;)" –mejillian

"Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons" – crystalclaes

So Caroline's not a Salvatore and Kol and Caroline aren't in love (yet) but when have I ever followed a prompt to the letter? And hey, Koroline as Romeo and Juliet + werewolves = crazy.

I'm going to get all those prompts done someday, I swear it.

When the hour is nigh
And hopelessness is sinking in
And the wolves all cry
To fill the night with hollering
When your eyes are red
And emptiness is all you know
With the darkness fed
I will be your scarecrow

-Bleeding Out, Imagine Dragons

Caroline's sixteenth birthday begins at sunset. Now most people believe it's usually at sunrise announcing a new day and all but werewolves like to tell their time by nights and moonlight. The moment the sun went down the horizon Caroline was officially sixteen in the eyes of everyone in the pack. She was at the proper age for mating by custom, officially an adult by Lycan Law.

A part of Caroline is apprehensive. She doesn't think she was ready to have a mate yet. She hasn't even had a proper boyfriend thanks to how overprotective the males in the pack are. The only boys around her age in the pack are Stefan and Jeremy and they both think of her as a sister. The other males are either too old or mated, leaving her with nobody to 'fool around with' like all the other girls in town. But those other girls in town don't have the ability to shape shift to a wolf, they never had to worry about revealing the furry secret to the boy they're making out with.

The first boy Caroline has ever kissed was a boy named Matt. He was completely human and seemed so lonely and lost after his mom and eventually his sister bailed on him. He was cute in that sad, kicked puppy kind of way and she decided one day that she was going to have her first kiss by him first day of freshman year. She walked up to him, kissed him on the mouth and that night-

Caroline shakes her head to get the thoughts about a blue-eyed blond footballer out of her head. She and the other young wolves are heading to the lake for a little pre-partying before they have to attend the ceremony being held in her honor at midnight. There are only four of them – Caroline, Stefan, Jeremy and Anna. The latter two have been dating since pre-school but the four of them have always been a unit since they were young pups eager to run in the woods and let the still growing beast inside of them loose.

It has always the four of them even when Stefan turned sixteen a few months earlier and had been allowed to attend the meetings 'strictly for adults' in the pack. Stefan isn't allowed to say what went on in those meetings but he's described them as "mind-numbingly boring". Caroline would be allowed to be in the meetings two after tonight and in a few years so would Jeremy and Anna. Nothing is going to change in their group, not for anything.

They settle by the lake when they arrive, walking through the woods they are so familiar with. Wolves are most comfortable being in the forests and they took every chance they could as kids to sneak to the forest and run until their lungs and limbs ached.

Stefan is starting a fire, asking Jeremy to go get firewood which meant Anna is coming along too leaving Caroline alone with her best friend. Stefan takes out a can of beer and from the icebox he carried effortlessly there (super werewolf strength could be so useful) and hands it to Caroline. She takes it with a smile and takes a sip as he takes one out for himself.

Caroline lets the bitter taste of beer linger in her mouth, eyeing the view, the sky already darkening enough to see specks of stars, She watches the ripples in the water before turning to Stefan who's sitting on a log. "Can I ask you a question?"

He's mid-sip and he swallows before saying, "Sure".

Caroline pauses, not sure how to broach the subject she is about to ask him about but she needs to know so she sucks it up and asks out, bluntly, "How come you haven't picked a mate?"

Stefan stares into his beer can as if it has all the secrets of the universe before looking up at her and answering. "I haven't found a girl I wanted to be bound to for an eternity."

"What? None of the older girls interest you?" Caroline asks. "Come on, Stefan. We're a small pack but that doesn't mean there's no variety."

"It's not variety I'm looking for. It's-" He stops and looks down at the ground and shakes his head. "Never mind."

Caroline wants to ask him about what he was about to say but Jeremy and Anna return carrying enough wood to last them five winters. Jeremy quickly helps Stefan make the fire before cuddling with Anna, murmuring sweet nothings in her ear that make her giggle. All the while Stefan stares at Caroline through the flames of the bonfire, looking troubled. She holds her tongue.

The ceremony for becoming adult by Lycan Law is short if anti-climactic. There were three parts of being blessed: by alpha, blood and moon.

The alpha, namely Giuseppe Salvatore, gives a short speech about coming of age and adulthood. Giuseppe smudges a half-crescent on her forehead with liquid myrrh before 'blessing' her with burnt sweet grass. The fragrant smoke wafting off her and relaxing her, loosening her muscles and making her want to sigh.

Her family blesses her next. Her parents give her a golden pendant with a small peridot, her birth stone. They tell her of their hopes and wishes for her before hugging her in a tight, warm hug. She nearly cries into their embrace and her mother shakes with emotion. Her father's lips on the top of her head remind her off when she was young and small and these people were her world.

The last part is a hunt, an offering to Selene to bless Caroline in her new life as a grown-up. Giuseppe leads the hunt of course and they chase and kill a doe quickly. Blood in her muzzle and earth underneath her paws, Caroline is never happier, her pants almost like laughter as she runs with the adrenaline. Having had her fill of deer, she finds herself hungry for something else and whines when Stefan's nose touches the white fur of her neck to give her a sweet lick.

She moves closer to the grey wolf but Stefan licks her nose quickly before running off. She follows him thoughtlessly, an ancient appetite running through her veins, urging her to hunt Stefan down and take him as her own. I will make you my mate, wolf-boy, and you will be mine and mine alone. And you will make me yours in return.

Stefan has a head start on her but she's the fastest in the pack so she gains on him. He runs far and deep into the woods, nearing the border they are never allowed to cross or even come near. But Caroline has always hated following rules and she tries to push Stefan past the line, circling him and playfully biting his paws to make him move closer. Come on, wolf-boy, break the rules. Show me you're not afraid of anything.

Stefan lets out a sound between a growl and a whine, trying to tell her that this is foolish. He shakes his head at her, green eyes so vibrant in his wolf form, warning her to stop being so reckless. But Caroline is too hyped up with the ceremony and the fresh kill so she turns tail and runs right past the marked red line showing the end of their territory. Stefan lets out a loud bark as she runs.

I chased you, now you chase me, wolf-boy.

Stefan growls low into his throat before chasing after her.

Caroline wakes up disoriented, sunlight nearly blinding her when she opens her eyes. And she rubs at her aching head, a dry taste in her mouth. She's woken up with a hangover before but she doesn't remember drinking much of last night. She had some beers with her friends at the pre-party but she only had a few sips of wine at the ceremony and then no more.

Or maybe she must've gotten drunk after because she doesn't remember how she ended up in this unfamiliar room. It's big about twice the size of her bedroom, white walls, dark furniture and red accents with the curtains and the bed sheets. There was only one painting on the wall right across from the bed, hundreds of wolves' eyes staring back at her in silver and blue paint. Where am I?

And why am I naked? She looks down at herself in apprehension and a quickening fear, noticing an ache between her legs she can no longer ignore. Oh no, did I….no, no, no, no! She removes the red sheets from herself and sees the dried blood on her skin.

Small glimpses of memory echo in her head.

She's running through the forest, this place is forbidden but she didn't care. She wants to be chased, to be touched and to feel like a child no more. She can hear Stefan gaining on her and runs faster, wanting to howl with rapture. Suddenly he's right behind her and he knocks her to the ground.

She lets out a whimper and tries to get up but teeth sink into her neck, forcing her into submission. Mine, that's what the gesture said. You are mine and you will submit to me. The more predatory part of her wants to fight, not wanting to acquiesce but teeth sink deeper into her neck until she has to whine and goes limp beneath him.

He turns her over and a boy now, not a wolf is on top of her, coaxing her back to her own human form with his hands on her fur. She complies and it's skin to skin, his skin speckled with dirt but oh-so-warm. His dark eyes boring into hers before taking her mouth in a starving kiss. You are mine. You are my mate.

A part of her is screaming this is all wrong. His hair is too dark, his eyes should be green. This is all wrong but he bites her lips, drawing blood and her body practically screams with anticipation. I am yours.

Caroline groans into her hands. She'd been mated last night. She lost her virginity to some wolf-boy she doesn't even know. And now she's most likely in his home where she is supposed to live now according to Lycan Law.

'Mate' is equivalent to human terms of 'spouse' and she is married now for all intents and purposes. She is someone's property and no longer her own, or maybe not even her packs. She doesn't recognize the boy from last night so he isn't even from her pack so he had to be from…Oh Selene, no!

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Caroline wants to cry and shout. She got herself mated to the enemy and essentially betraying her pack. They would shun her now even if she somehow convinces her new husband to let her go.

The door opens and she looks up to find the boy from last night enter the room. He's less naked now, wearing dark well-fitting jeans and a cream jumper. He smiles at her sweetly albeit awkwardly as he greets her, "Good morning."

She doesn't reply and continues to stare at him hesitantly, wanting to run away and never come back. She covers herself with the red sheets and curls into herself, trying to make herself smaller. He takes it all in stride though and holds up a pretty red dress with black accents. "it's my sister's. I thought you might like something to wear till we can get you some of your own clothes."

She doesn't make a move to take it and he thinks nothing of it again, placing the dress on the bed in front of her and taking a seat close enough to her, making her back up into the headboard as far as she can. "The pack's waiting downstairs to meet you. They wanted to storm right in here but I told them that wouldn't be a good idea.

"Besides, you were still sleeping and I knew you needed to rest after last night." He says this with a slight smirk, it's playful and knowing. He remembers the entire thing unlike her. He wasn't out of his mind when it'd happened. He'd been willing.

It makes her bristle and she tucks the red sheets closer to herself, wanting to get lost in them and never get out. She wishes she could wish this all away. She wishes she wasn't so stupid as to go past that border last night. She wishes she'd been mated to someone she actually knew and not fucked like she is now.

"But they're really eager to meet you. But it's mostly my mother though. She didn't think I was ever going to take a mate so she's quite enthusiastic."

He's talking like they are just about to go out and have brunch. Like a normal couple. She wants to punch him for making this seem so…so normal. As if she really wants this and isn't trying to think of a way out of it.

"Anyway, Caroline-"

"How do you know my name?" She interrupts him, finally speaking. She doesn't know how he even knows her name. She's from a different pack, he shouldn't know. And she feels at a large disadvantage at not knowing his name.

He gives her a knowing look. "You told me last night. Remember?"

The red sheets feel so soft underneath her, her skin feels like it's on fire, so sensitive to touch as he takes her. Deep fullness in her core and she pants hot air as his lips bite into her neck. Her nails dig into his back, tearing his skin bloody and he growls into her ear.

"What's your name?" He asks, his lips hovering over hers and she wants to feel his mouth again, hot and moist, needing it.

"C-Caroline." She gets out before he rewards her with the kiss she so craves.

Her face is burning with the memory. She wants to die. She didn't just mate once with this boy last night. She doesn't even want to know how many times she did the dirty with him. Her core is so sore, she prays to never recall.

"You don't remember." He finally figures it out, sighing when the gravity of the situation sinks in. "Well, this makes this difficult."

Really now? She mentally scoffs and waits for what he is going to do next. Hopefully he decides this mating would be too difficult and has it dissolved by the end of the day. Maybe her pack wouldn't be so harsh as to banish her after this, they'd be upset yes but merciful.

"No matter," He waves it off like it's nothing. "We have plenty of time to know more about each other."

She blinks and it dawns on her. He's made up his mind about this, much to her dismay and he wants to keep being mated to her. He doesn't want it dissolved. The lunatic wants to keep her as his mate.

"Wait, I don't think this is a good-"

But he's already standing up and not listening to her protests at all. "Get dressed. Everyone's waiting downstairs. I'll come back in a few minutes."

She watches him leave and the door close quietly behind him. She stares at the door disconcerted as she tries to process that not only does he not care that she doesn't remember their mating but he wants to keep being mated to her, must knowing that she's from the enemy pack. He isn't letting her go. And this isn't fair.

She covered her face with her hands, frustrated tears trying to escape but she keeps them at bay. She has to be strong and smart about this. She can't break down. I am a wolf-girl and I concede to nothing, not even fear.

It's only then that she remembers she never got his name.

Her mate comes back in a few minutes as he promised. She freshened up some in the bathroom and wearing the dress he gave her. He also gives her some black heels that must be from his sister too. She has to grit her teeth from hurling an insult at him.

I may be your mate but I am still not yours. Get that, wolf-boy? I am not yours. Free me and find another bitch to fuck.

He leads her out of the room and down the stairs. She can't stop herself from eyeing the house. It's large, even bigger than the Salvatore's home which was the biggest house she's ever been in. The house she was in is grand and beautiful and she forces herself not to gawk.

They enter what has to be the dining room, a large room with giant table and numerous chairs. A chandelier hangs over it and all the eyes in the room are on Caroline. She recognizes none of them but the man at the head of the table from vague memory. Her father is the beta to Giuseppe and one more than one occasion had to come with his alpha to deal with the other alpha in town.

Mikael stares down at them with his dark eyes and she suppresses a shiver. She's only seen the alpha of the enemy pack once and that was when she was four and waiting for her dad in the car with her mom. The male wolves were exiting the bar and Mikael was the first to come out, exuding power and cruelty like no other wolf she's ever seen. He was an alpha and everyone knew it.

And now she has just joined his pack and under his command. Horrific stories the elders whispered into her ears as a child come back to her. They are the enemy. They will fill you with their seed and kill you the moment you turn your back.

And oh Selene, she had already been mated by one of them. Would they kill her now? Is that why they were so 'eager' to meet her? Is this an execution?

Kol guides her gently but surely towards his alpha, all eyes following them as they stop in front of the dominant man in the room.

"This is Caroline." Kol says with a pleased smile. He is proud to present her to be slaughtered, was he? That asshole.

I will come back and haunt you, wolf-boy.

"Caroline, this is our alpha…and my father."

She freezes at what he said. Father?

"Wait, you're the alpha's son?" She nearly squawks, making many people in the room wince. Supreme hearing could be a bitch.

Kol shrugs sheepishly. "You never asked."

Caroline doesn't know what to think but she has to look away and finds herself staring into the gazes of every person in the pack. And with dawning terror, she realizes, she is the mate of the alpha's son. She isn't going to be executed. She is one of them.

"Caroline," She turns to find Mikael the one addressing her. "Welcome to the family."

She's completely wrecked. She has been trying to find a way to communicate with her pack all day but she hasn't been left alone since her introductory meeting to her mate's pack. And it's her mate's pack, not hers, never hers. I am Caroline Forbes and I am not one of you.

A real mating isn't complete without a small ceremony, just the alpha announcing to the pack underneath moonlight that she and 'Kol' (she finally learned her mate's name) are mated until the end of their days. Caroline and Kol will exchange vows of some sort and then they will be officially mated. She will be his forever. She has to get out.

The females in the pack have to prepare her for the ceremony and they prepare her a bath with essential oils for the ceremony: lavender for health, lotus for love, and patchouli for passion. All of this is to guide her into a successful mating with Kol. But I don't want this to work. I don't want him as my mate.

She's supposed to be dressed in her finest clothes but since her clothes are at her parents' house, Kol's sister, Rebekah, lends her a white cocktail dress. White is for weddings and purity. White is also for sacrifice.

I am not your lamb. I am a wolf. She resolutely tells herself but doesn't fight the women as they dress and pretty her.

The woods are a short drive from the alpha's house, it being more secluded from the other houses in town but near enough to the houses of the pack. She exits the truck she shared with the girls around her age. There are only three of them – Rebekah, Elena and Katherine. The third staring at her with envy as she is led by Kol's mother to the bonfire the males have started.

The men arrived earlier to prepare everything and Kol greets her with a bright grin as she goes to him, his hand taking hers and never letting go of it. She stares at their entwined hands, fitting so perfectly together she wants to vomit. I am not yours, wolf-boy, never yours.

Mikael begins the ceremony and everyone is all ears. "Under the light of Selene, I pronounce these two mated!"

Howls echo in the air, some human, some wolf and Caroline closes her eyes, shuddering and forcing the tears away. I am not yours. I am not one of you. I didn't choose this.

Mikael asks Kol, "Do you take her?"

Kol's answer is clear to all. "Yes."

Caroline opens her eyes as Mikael turns to her and asks, "Do you take him?"

And she wants to puke out all the contents of her stomach. I didn't choose this. I don't want this. But she can't get any of the words out and everyone's eyes are on her, tension rising in the air as Kol's hand tightens on hers.

Mikael repeats, "Do you take him?"

No, no! I don't want this! No!

Kol's hand is a brand on hers and she wants to pull away. She wants to run in her fur and hide. She wants to escape this madness. She wants to finally cry.

Mikael's eyes glare into hers, tonelessly repeating once more. "Do you take him?"

She opens her mouth to answer but cars arriving make them all turn their heads to look. A black van screeches with a halt and her heart soars as her parents get out of it, the Salvatores and the rest of the pack following. Her pack has come to save her! Sweet Selene, yes!

Growls exchange between the wolves of both packs and Caroline can almost taste the animosity. You are not us. We are not you. We are different. You are my enemy.

"Giuseppe," Mikael greets the other alpha like they are meeting up for a business luncheon. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Giuseppe finally speaks, his voice with finality. "Let her go, Mikael."

But Mikael isn't daunted at all and smiles, all teeth, at him. "I'm afraid that's not possible. My son-" He gestures to Kol. "-has taken her as his mate."

Caroline's mom gasps from beside her father, her eyes fearful as she wants to run toward Caroline and take her away from all this. Caroline wants her to as well but she can't. To do so would be to defy Mikael and she doesn't want her mother in trouble. Caroline has to trust Giuseppe to get her out of this.

"Yes, I heard. My son has informed me of that little complication." Stefan? Stefan knew? "He was about to mate with her last night when your men chased him out of the forest."

"He crossed the border. As our treaty dictates, we have a right to defend our territory." Mikael's predatory smile is chilling. "He's lucky my men didn't do something worse to him for trespassing."

Giuseppe growls at the idea of them harming his favorite son. "Lucky that such a worse complication didn't happen."

"Yes," Mikael agrees. "Instead we have a wedding. Not a complication at all but a celebration. Young love is so very sweet."

"Regardless, the girl is still one of my pack. Her father is my beta. Our treaty clearly states a divide between us. You are not allowed to take her."

Mikael is quiet for a moment before that sinister smile of his widened. "What if there was a new treaty?"

The wolves whisper among themselves in surprise.

A new treaty? But the treaty they have has been around for decades ever since the original pack was split into two. The war and bloodshed finally ended when the two alphas of the time wrote and sealed this treaty, forever separating the two packs from each other. To change the treaty would mean to change the dynamic of the two adversarial packs.

"We shall discuss such matters at a later date," Giuseppe finally intones once the whispers quiet some. "But for now, give us Caroline."

Mikael looks pleased and gestures for Kol to let Caroline go. But he doesn't want to. Caroline tries to run away but his hand is like steel and despite her super strength she is still weaker than him. So Caroline stares him down as she tries to tug her hand away.

Let me go, wolf-boy, I am not yours. Don't you get that? I am not yours. I will never be yours!

"Kol." Mikael's command is clear. Let her go, boy. Don't give me trouble.

Kol scowls but finally lets her go and she runs to my parents' awaiting arms. Her mom sobbing into her hair as her father's warm arms encase them both. I am home. This is where I belong.

"Let's go home, Care bear." Her dad says and Caroline nods, smiling with relief, her tears finally escaping with the joy of being able to be with her family, her pack.

Her mom doesn't let her go though, her arms still around Caroline as they go inside the car. She is so excited and happy to leave but she can't shake off the feeling of Kol's gaze on her, his dark eyes staring at her from where he is standing by the bonfire. I will have you back, wolf-girl. You are still my mate.

She stares him down through the windshield and shakes her head. I will never be yours. You can chase me but I will never be yours.

He smiles and it's so much like his father's she has to wince. Run, little wolf-girl, run.