[Edit: 3 Oct 2021]
[A/N: POV is all over the place in this chapter, but that's just how it's gonna be.]
The room is warmer than is usual for a late winter day; so much so that Klaus has Hayley forgo lighting the hearth in the corner of the study. Instead, the curtains are drawn, allowing glistening bright morning light to filter into the room. It glints off the desk he had bought only the evening before, the previous desk stacked in neat piles ready for the fire to be rekindled. A soft breeze rustles the papers scattered along the gleaming surface, pages which have his fingers itching to sketch with Caroline's features.
He isn't too surprised that Elena has come to see him; in fact he has predicted and expected it after Damon's visit the day before. As always, he is correct in his expectation. Klaus, much to his own annoyance, knows that the female vampire will seek him out. She needs him as much as he needs her…to a certain extent.
Hayley pushes the door open, her face setting off a nerve in his cheek. He isn't ready to see them, but he supposes it cannot be helped. Klaus turns to her, pushing to his feet and silently stretching his fingers as he places his pen down.
"Stefan and Elena are here," Hayley informs him, her monotonous face flashing into a frown, "Klaus, there's a wolf with them. She smells strange,"
Wolf? Klaus pauses in his journey around the desk, momentarily off balance. The wolf he had not sensed; usually he's rather good with these things, he might even call himself brilliant. He tilts his head, taking a cautious breath through his nose. There's nothing in the air to give the wolf away – not under the smouldering fire smoke and perfume Elena reeks of. He shakes his head, the sudden development cannot deter him. He has more pressing measures to attend to.
With a wave of his hand the hybrid disappears through the door once more.
Klaus rounds the desk and settles into a comfortable lean against the hard wood surface, his arms creep up to fold over his chest – elusive memories of the Salvatore's trying to repeatedly stab him make him cautious despite that they cannot actually kill him. Would that they could, Klaus had already destroyed most of the white oak stakes.
Like a switch has been hit, he catches it. Indeed wolf, but different. Not like his hybrids with their distinct sweet-tangy undertones, or the Lycanthropes with their sharp musky scent. This wolf doesn't even smell like the werewolves before the phase. It is definitely a female wolf though, just…something like the ocean or morning dew. Different.
His nose wrinkles slightly, unsure whether to find it pleasant or unnerving.
The door swings open and in waltzes the vampires, their chins lifted in a way that makes Klaus roll his eyes. His brows lift and his lips purse into a pout, an expression that Rebekah had once commented that made him look like "Calvin Klein throwing a tantrum". Not that he was entirely sure who this man was or why Rebekah had made such a ridiculous conclusion that Klaus was capable of throwing a tantrum.
Klaus tilts his head, eyes snagging on the figure that follows the first two. Her gaze is steady and dark, scrutinizing in a way Klaus is painfully familiar with. His brows tilt further, his eyes doing their own study. The wolf is young, compared to him they all are, and is smooth skinned. Her shoulders speak of burden. That too is familiar.
As his eyes flicker over her, he acknowledges the otherness that tends to come with all supernatural creatures. A kind of beauty that speaks of danger and power. She is not soft enough to be pretty, not small and delicate enough to be cute, not necessarily stunning nor gorgeous either. She is not Caroline. But her cheekbones are arched and her jaw straight, her lashes just long and dark enough to invite further investigation. She is copper and bronze and polished gold standing between the sunlight and fire's glow. He feels as if he should know her, despite the lack of familiarity.
The Original glances at the vampires, bound to greet his guests, but is abruptly interrupted by the woman crumbling to the ground. A sound that makes his arm hairs stand on end, peeling from her throat. Together with his guests he stares at the wolf once more – kneeling with her hand clutched over her chest and her eyes staring widely at him.
He stares back, irritated and unsure. Momentarily thrown.
Elena fidgets, glancing between the males before moving around Stefan to crouch beside the girl. "Leah," she whispers, wrapping an arm around the wolf's shoulders and gently shaking her, "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
Losing interest, Klaus turns to Stephan, the other scowling in thought. "You've come into my home to ask my help, yes?" he doesn't allow the other vampire to respond before continuing, "I'm assuming the wolf was an offering to help me consider your proposition. Yet, I don't see a point in broken gifts, Stefan, it's unpleasant and awkward to deal with. What can I do with a wolf that dies before I can even consider the means to make her a hybrid?"
Stefan's eyes widen, "She isn't one of yours then?"
"One of mine?" Klaus questions incredulously, finding himself thrown once again and wanting to hit something because of it. His eyebrows hike toward his hairline, causing fine lines to appear on his skin. He glances back at the wolf and Elena then to Stefan. "Whatever do you mean?"
"You know," Stephan snarls and Klaus tut's softly and straightens from the desk. "One of your pets, your hybrids, your… whatever you call them,"
The Original casually examines the distress on the vampire's face, his own surely twisting with displeasure. "I have no clue where you could have gotten that idea. That thing is certainly not one of my hybrids, in fact, I'm sure she's not even completely a wolf. I would have thought your sense of smell was better than this Stephan, especially after all the time we've spent together."
Elena growls and Stephan instantly turns to her, ignoring Klaus. Her face twists in familiar fury. "Help me,"
Stefan obliges and tries to scoop Leah into his arms.
The wolf suddenly gasps, flailing, before crumpling in on herself. The vampires pause and wait, wondering.
What is this nonsense? Klaus sighs heavily. He was not fond of Shakespeare when the infernal man was alive, why the drama insists on following him about he'll never know.
"It's," the wolf – Leah – chokes out and reaches a hand to touch her cheek, wet with tears. Her lips twitch into a shaky smile. "It's real, it's you,"
Klaus isn't sure he wants to be the 'you' the woman is referring to, but she is staring so absorbed and joyously directly at him. It makes him shudder, he has not been so gazed upon for decades. He almost, but does not, gives in to the desire to turn and check that there is indeed no other behind him.
Instead, he grits his teeth, determined to throw the entire cast of this sordid drama out on their hides. The wolf is hallucinating, imagining him to be some dead comrade or sibling, he truly doesn't care what.
Elena has turned to stare at him as well, clearly mystified as to why the wolf would be so very happy to see Klaus. Touché. He clearly is nothing to be excited about. If anything, Leah should have run screaming – in terror! - not collapsed into some drizzly puddle of delight. It is what Elena knew she would have done, before.
Unknown to both vampires, they were equally baffled by this development, for the first time in agreement, although Elena was more in spite and Klaus's clearly in denial. Stephan, bemused as he was, was the only one of the vampires who could still function coordinately. Being such he wrapped a reassuring arm around Leah's shoulders and helped her wobble to her feet, careful to not obscure her view of Klaus.
Despite her initial shock, Elena jumps into action and slides her arm around Leah's other side. Against her side, she feels how the wolf's body trembles, slow and constant shudders. But it's too warm for the woman to be cold and, besides her physical state, Leah is still gazing at Klaus with a look that reminds Elena momentarily of how Damon looks at her when he thinks she isn't aware. It seems almost…loving, adoring even. For some strange reason it makes Elena feel desperately miserable.
Klaus doesn't deserve such a look, Elena reasons, her lips dipping down at the corners. The pain he has caused me, caused everyone is too great for him to receive such admiration.
When the vampire looks back up at Klaus, she wants to punch him. The man has turned away from the scene, clearly bored with the whole ordeal, one hand massaging his left temple. And still Leah wears that stupid expression and it makes Elena grind her teeth together.
"Are you quite done now?" Klaus asks and when he turns to them his eyes are narrowed and he clutches a feathered quill in one hand, his knuckles white with the strength of his hold. "I'm tired of this petty show."
Stefan curls his lips in an uncharacteristic show of aggression, "Something's clearly wrong with her,"
"She seems quite smitten to me,"
Elena flushes red and Klaus can't help but feel mildly amused despite his annoyance. "Don't you have a heart?" It might have been a plea, had Klaus not detected the loathing behind the words.
"Of course not," the Original comments and returns to leaning against the desk. "Hearts are for the living."
"Only the beating ones,"
The vampires are all shushed to silence by Leah's sudden comment. Her face is flushed red and her eyes are wide, her body still trembles slightly, but her voice works just fine. She swallows thickly, her gaze still on the man before them.
After a moment Klaus scoffs, he says, "And what good are beating hearts?"
"Not much,"
"Beating hearts get you killed," Klaus states as if lecturing to a child, his heavy accent rolling off his tongue.
Leah lets out a shallow sigh, her eyes softening even further and her lips curling just the smallest amount to form the most saccharine smile Klaus had ever laid his eyes on. "But if you protect them properly, whether they beat or not isn't important."
Thank you, everyone for reading and following/favourite this story, it means the world to me that you somewhat enjoy it. Please have an amazing week ^3^ I might not see you again for a while – finals… DX