A/N Written for Klaroline AU Week 2019 Day Four: Mates. I admit it – I am not capable of writing anything that does not involve lyrics of some kind. Title is from "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The inspiration for this came from P!nk's song, "But We Lost It." The song playing during the dance is, "Against All Odds."
Passing Bells and Sculpted Angels
Klaus Mikaelson knew when he broke his hybrid curse that he would have to endure the pain of breaking every bone in his body. What he didn't know was that, come morning, he would look back fondly on the horrors of transformation as a new kind of anguish tore him apart piece by broken piece.
Caroline Forbes.
His Caroline. She had been his in every sense of the word. Lover. Best friend. Companion. Partner in crime. Fellow schemer, dreamer and mischief maker. His equal in every sense of the word. Caroline had been his mate.
How could he ever forget?
Esther's spell flashed to the forefront of his consciousness like lightning the second Elena's blood electrified his tongue and shocked his memories back to life. He'd been prepared for the raw, unyielding power of unlocking his hybrid side. He had not been prepared for the ecstasy of grief that would bring him to his knees. Neither Bonnie's burning spell nor Elijah's frozen fist compared to the dizzying maelstrom of moments erased from the essence of who they had been. The taste of their first kiss. The cornflower blue of her eyes when light danced across her face in the flickering flames of a bonfire. The musical lilt of her laughter. The silken touch of her bare skin across his harsh stubble. The aromatic waft of their combined arousal after the first time they'd made love in the forest where he'd forgotten her.
Esther had, of course, known that they were both unturned werewolves. Apparently, there was quite the mixing of the species in 11th century Mystic Falls. Unbeknownst to Caroline's father, her mother had, like so many others, been drawn in by the mystique of the wolves. She'd imbibed in some moonlight madness and along came a baby. What the Original Witch hadn't counted on was that the pair were true mates: they shared one heart. When Klaus turned, Caroline followed on his heels.
To Esther's horror, the witch Ayana revealed that Caroline's blood was the true key to unleashing Klaus' inner wolf. The doppelgänger was a long shot that provided the perfect distraction to keep the Original children running off in the wrong direction for what should have been forever. Unfortunately, Klaus was relentless in his pursuit of his stolen heritage. Something deep in his soul screamed for the release of his true nature… or at least, someone.
Caroline's residence in Mystic Falls was nothing less than the ultimate cosmic irony. As Mikael and Elijah bound Klaus to that cross, Finn and Kol had done the same to her. While Rebekah had been Caroline's best friend, and had therefore refused to participate, she was nowhere near strong enough to stop the spell from happening. After seeing Klaus' rage solely at being bound, and with no memory of his mate, she'd swallowed the secret for all eternity… but she had known. They had all known about Caroline, and no one had said a word. The accidental Original had woken up in a boat across the Potomac River a week after the Mikaelsons had fled. There was nothing left of their village when she'd finally found her way back.
Caroline found herself alone in the world. She'd wandered the globe for centuries before finding a best friend in Alexis Branson. Lexi was completely unlike the many vampire families she become a part of at one time or another as she searched to find what part of her she'd had always known was missing. Lexi had just lost her brother when Caroline stumbled upon the fiery blonde baby vamp. Together, they rehabilitated Stefan over the years. After Lexi's murder, Caroline had made Mystic Falls her temporary home to await the day she could avenge her friend's death. Thus far, circumstances had proved uncooperative to give Damon his due, but eternity was an awfully long time. After all, Caroline was the mate of the notoriously vengeful and ruthless Klaus Mikaelson. Caroline's smile was the first thing the hybrid remembered when he woke up in human form two days after the ritual sacrifice. The cruelest trick of all was that while he remembered everything, she still knew nothing.
Unsure how to proceed, he'd done the most rational thing possible: abduct her best friend and get the hell out of town.
Klaus Mikaelson was nothing if not meticulous in his planning. His contingency plans had plans of their own to cover every possible outcome. He would get his mate back, however long it took. He'd spent the summer stealthily extracting information from Stefan about his lovely blonde companion as they hunted for werewolves across the country. Things were moving right along until his plans were derailed by his not-so-loyal minion's omission that Elena was still alive.
However, Klaus was nothing if not adaptable. He'd made the necessary adjustments that had led him to this moment. It had taken every favor he'd ever garnered with every coven he'd ever known to ascertain every facet of the spell that stole his mate. She hadn't made her first kill before they were bound. From what Klaus had gleaned from Stefan, Caroline had never said anything about being part werewolf, meaning it was highly likely that she'd known the truth of her own lineage anymore than he had at the time of their deaths.
By all accounts, the secret to unlocking her heritage was for her to feed directly from Klaus' own unbound vein. The key to restoring their bond was to mate under the light of the full moon, as humans, before transforming into their wolf forms to complete the ritual blood sharing. There was only one pesky stipulation: both of these things had to be done willingly. Not only did he have to convince the woman he'd been planning to sacrifice that she wanted to drink his blood, but he had to convince her to mate with him. In the most primal sense of the word, he had to claim her... all of her. Every part of her, inside and out. He had to mark her as his own and accept her mark in return... and all of it had to be done outside. Naked. On an altar. Under the full moon… and she had to make her choice free of coercion.
Klaus had his work cut out for him, but that was nothing new for the Original Hybrid. Having Tyler Lockwood bite Caroline had been easy enough. Sire bonds were an easy thing to manipulate. It helped that the boy was an idiot. The more challenging task was finding a witch to make it look like the venom had actually infected her. However, his blood was highly sought after as it was the only known cure for a wolf bite. Hers would work, too, of course… but he hadn't exactly advertised that new tidbit of knowledge he'd gained. Trading away a few vials was nothing to him if it got him his Caroline back. He'd paid the price and put his plans into motion. He knocked on her bedroom door in the midst of the perfect storm for her to drink his blood of her own accord.
Klaus walked in and felt all the air leave his lungs when he heard his mate's small voice ask, "Are you going to kill me?"
Klaus looked at her aghast, painful shock evident on his deceptively angelic face. "On your birthday? You really think that low of me?"
Caroline didn't hesitate before biting back, "Yes."
Klaus felt an icicle penetrate his chest at the venom in her voice that was completely unrelated to the faux venom doing nothing in her veins. Of course, she would think that. She had no idea that everything he had done since breaking his curse had been for her. He walked over to her and carefully peeled back the fabric over her mystical bite. "That looks bad," he said sincerely. It was a glamor, but she didn't know that. "My apologies. You're what's known as collateral damage. It's nothing personal." It was true. Collateral damage is exactly what she'd been for a thousand years.
It didn't matter how ashen and weak she looked. As far as Klaus was concerned, Caroline was always perfect. She was as beautiful now in this tiny bedroom as she had been when they'd taken each other's virginity in the forest a thousand years ago. Every inch of him ached to be inside of her again… but she had no idea who he was. "How did it come to be your birthday?" he asked in his smooth British accent. She glared at him, wishing that looks alone really could kill the smug bastard that towered over her with his innocent little dimples and absolutely unattractive stubble. "I love birthdays," he added, flicking the ridiculous bracelet that his miserable hybrid minion had given her.
"Yeah, aren't you like a billion or something?" Caroline asked with an eye roll. She'd met Lexi on this day in 1690. Since then, they'd celebrated it as their birthday. This was the first year they'd spent apart. Klaus knew that from Stefan, of course, but he wanted so badly to hear Caroline's voice after so much time.
"You'll have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire, Caroline," he said with a small smile. "Although the way I hear it, you're quite the antique yourself," he teased lightly. When she just kept on glaring at him, he changed tactics. "Celebrate the fact that you are no longer bound by trivial human conventions. You're free."
"No," she croaked. "I'm dying."
Klaus' heart broke in his chest when he heard her declaration. He hated that it had to be this way; that he couldn't just tell her the truth and have her accept it as fact. In a thousand years, nothing had infuriated him more than finding out from Stefan how very, very much she hated him. He gave in to his impulses and tucked one leg beneath him, sitting beside her on the bed. "And I could let you, die, if that's what you want. If you really believe your existence has no meaning," he said sadly. How could she think he would really let her die? She was an Original, after all. Surely, she must have figured out her own durability by now… then again, who would ever want to kill Caroline? She was so beautiful and strong and full of light. She was nothing like him... and yet they were exactly the same. He couldn't help but wonder how different things might have been if they'd never been ripped apart.
"I thought about it myself once or twice over the centuries, truth be told," the hybrid confided in his mate. With a sly smirk, he leaned in and whispered, "But I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a whole world out there waiting for you: great cities and art and music… genuine beauty… and you can have all of it," he promised her sincerely. He knew she'd seen the world a hundred times over, but he would show her HIS world. He just needed her to drink. "You can have a thousand more birthdays… all you have to do is ask."
Klaus waited with breath that was bated as she considered her options. Knew she was weighing the value of her own life against her hatred of her would-be savior. She knew she was supposed to hate him after everything he had done, but a small, nagging part of her empathized with him. She'd spent centuries alone, flitting from one group of misfits to another before finally finding Lexi and eventually Stefan. She didn't like his methods, but she understood why he wanted his hybrids. There was something beautiful about his tragedy.
Making up her mind, Caroline choked out, "I don't wanna die."
Klaus felt a ball of iron leave his chest at her quiet proclamation. She'd bought it. She had no idea werewolf venom couldn't hurt her because she had no idea that she was a werewolf… but she was about to find out. He gently pulled her to his chest and offered her his wrist. "There you go, sweetheart," he whispered. "Have at it." He felt everything in him warm when her sharp fangs pierced his skin. Sighing happily, he rested his cheek against the top of her golden curls that felt so much like home. "Happy birthday, Caroline."
The accidental Original didn't understand why, but everything in her relaxed against this monster of a man. She felt her eyes roll shut when his velvet blood massaged her tongue. She drank deeply from his offered vein as he stroked her hair in a way that felt so wrong, but so perfect. Was this what getting cured felt like? If it was, maybe she would have to get Tyler to do this again. She suckled his wrist for so long that Klaus felt himself start to grow dizzy from blood loss. When she finally pulled away, she relaxed back into him. For a moment, they looked at each other and he searched her eyes for any sign of recognition.
Their time was drawn to a painful close when the sound of the first of her bone to break pierced the air, followed immediately by a shrill scream. Matt Donovan rushed into the room, but all he saw was the swishing of her curtains as Klaus flashed them deep into the forest for Caroline's first transformation.
One by one, her bones broke and regrew as she morphed into the most beautiful wolf he had ever seen. She was glowing white with piercing blue eyes. He'd spent hours every day breaking his own bones until he could turn seamlessly. As she neared the end, he quickly changed and followed her deeper into the woods as she ran with the moon for the first time. His form was shaggy and silver with fangs long as the daggers he would never remove from his siblings now they he knew the depts of their betrayal. As wolves, they were in their purest state. All animal passion and fierce possession. In her most primitive form, Caroline knew her mate. Klaus reveled in the feel of her fur against his as they made love beneath the harvest moon, their howls echoing into the night.
By morning, the forest was strewn with the evidence of their mating and the hunt that followed. Caroline woke up in a small clearing stark naked and covered in blood and fur. Klaus had his arm protectively slung across her bare breasts as he slept soundly by her side in similar bloody nudity. She looked down at all of her exposed flesh as the horrifying realization of her own hybrid nature began to take hold. She shoved him off of her and flashed off into the woods.
In the five seconds it took him to catch up with her, she was already halfway back to her house. He sped into her path, forcing her to crash right into him, sending them both sprawling, still naked, across the forest floor. The newly awakened hybrid wasted no time growling at him, eyes glowing yellow when she shoved him away. "What the fucking hell did you do to me?" she snarled, tone demanding.
Klaus innocently held up his hands in front of him as she slowly rose to his feet. "I didn't DO anything, sweetheart," he said with a forced calmness in his voice, the taste of her blood still fresh on his tongue. "I undid what was done to you long ago when we were turned. I returned to you what was stolen from us both." When she looked at him with a puzzled, albeit angry, expression, he clarified. "You're a hybrid, Caroline." She was stunned into silence, giving him a chance to move forward, slowly stepping towards her.
"That's impossible," she whispered, shaking her head back in forth as she refused to believe what he was telling her in spite of strong evidence to the contrary.
"You died as a result of my death," he explained, taking another step forward. However, this only seemed to add to her bewilderment. When she made no move to pull away, he brushed his knuckles down her arm and whispered, "You are my mate."
Caroline's face twisted up in utter revulsion. "Like hell I am!" she growled, pushing him away. "I am NOT a wolf, and even if I am, I'll die before I end up as one of your sired little bitches," she spat venomously.
"I didn't say you were sired to me. I said you are my mate," Klaus clarified emphatically. He smirked at her still naked body, every inch of her covered in his essence. Eyeing her up and down, he pointed out, "Hard to deny the truth when we're both covered in each other's scent... among other things." He swiped at a sticky substance on her bare shoulder that she didn't want to think about too closely. "Don't you think?" he questioned, bringing the substance to her eye line. Caroline looked down as though noticing her own nudity for the first time. Her eyes widened for a brief moment before she flashed back to her house. She tried to slam the door shut, but Klaus was right behind her. He tsked at her as he strutted across the threshold. "Can't keep me out now, love. I've already been invited in," he said smugly.
"Ugh!" Caroline squealed, spinning on her heel and flashing up the stairs. She anticipated his reaction and paused quickly enough to make sure he sped right into her outstretched palm, smashing his nose into pieces, bright red blood gushing down his chest. His eyes flashed dangerously as a low growl emitted from the back of his throat, but she would not be cowed. She stared him down and suddenly the world slipped away.
Caroline's tiny village had burned to the ground a thousand years ago, and yet she was seven years old again, running through a field full of tall grass and dandelions as another little blonde girl chased after her. The other girl was telling her to run faster before Nik caught them, whoever that was. Their laughter rang through the crisp morning air, sweat running in rivulets down their tiny faces as an older boy with long blonde hair ran after them. The smell of summer filled her nose and settled as a warmth in her lower belly.
As quickly as it had come, the memory receded. Caroline gasped as present-day Mystic Falls came rushing back to her. Klaus' face was a mask of concern as he gaped at her, unsure what to make of what he'd just seen. She had clearly been gone, begging the question of where she had been. "Caroline, I-" he began.
The naked and bloody blonde cut him off with a commanding, "Stay." There wasn't a cell in her body that believed he was somehow her magical mystical mate, destined to be with her throughout the ages. If that was the case, where had he been for the last millennium that she'd been on her own while he had a family? Also, what was up with that odd memory hitting her out of nowhere? That had never happened before. Realizing she needed to learn as much as she could, she reluctantly resigned herself to hearing him out.
Pointing at him with a finger caked in blood and grime, Caroline gruffly informed him, "I get the shower first, and then you. When I'm good and ready, MAYBE I will let you explain what the hell is going on." Before he had a chance to respond, she slammed the bathroom door in his face. He smiled to himself. She was as fierce as he'd remembered. He just had to make her see that she remembered him, too... and that she once loved him in return.
Months had gone by since Klaus had revealed their past to Caroline, and yet still she doubted the validity of his claims. She couldn't deny that she was, indeed, a hybrid; nor could she deny that she had come from the same small village that stood in what was now known as Mystic Falls. Klaus could see it on her face every time he was around and a random memory would return to the forefront of her mind. None of those memories were of him, he knew, but they were something he could hold onto as he tried week after week to make her see that they were meant to be together.
While Caroline hadn't given in, it had been easy enough to plant the seeds of doubt in the feeble mind of Tyler Lockwood. It didn't hurt that Klaus had the sire bond working for him, either. When he told his least favorite minion how his girlfriend had spent her first full moon howling, Tyler had been all too quick to believe that she'd known the truth all along. When she'd come to Klaus absolutely livid, he'd released Tyler from his sire bond as a peace offering. However, this only confirmed the baby hybrid's suspicions that the pair had been in cahoots. Tyler had taken several of the other hybrids and promptly left town without a word. Caroline had been livid. Klaus had been victorious.
"Seriously, Klaus?" the blonde love of his life snapped when he showed up at her door yet again. "I'm not in the mood for you right now. Can you just give me a break and get lost?" she asked in annoyance as he sauntered into her living room as though he owned the place. After the first couple of weeks, she had begrudgingly accepted that he wasn't going anywhere. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd even enjoyed herself at his ball... but only a little bit... and he didn't know that... right? No, of course not. He didn't know that any more than her friends had known she'd intentionally tipped him off to Esther's plans, leading to the Original Witch's second death. She'd justified it to herself that she only wanted Esther gone to keep her from doing any further damage in the present, refusing to believe memories of Klaus had been stolen from her mind in the past.
The Original Hybrid turned to her with a charming smile that she did NOT find arousing... not at all. His cute dimples were especially not attractive underneath that sexy stubble she had definitely never fantasized about. "I lost you for a millennium. I think that was quite enough. Don't you?" he quipped as he invaded her air space, gently placing his hands on her hips. Caroline scoffed and tried to shove him away with a firm hand to the middle of his chest. He easily caught her wrist midair and intertwined their fingers, brushing her knuckles with his raspberry lips as he held her gaze. His cock twitched when he heard her heart skip a beat, her eyes darkening from sapphire to cobalt in involuntary arousal.
When she didn't immediately pull away, Klaus took it as an invitation to gently trace the back of his fingers down her elegant cheek bone, making her breath catch in her velvet throat that he so desperately wanted to sink his teeth into and mark her as his for all time. He watched in fascination as a memory obviously came back to her. She and the girl she had come to accept was Rebekah were climbing trees on a bright winter afternoon. Caroline felt her imaginary foot slip, sending her falling from the highest branch she'd excitedly reached. She screeched when strong arms caught her before she hit the snow-covered ground. When she opened her eyes, she was met with bright blue and charming dimples.
Unfortunately, as with all of Caroline's flashes, the moment ended as quickly as it had begun. Before Klaus could ask what she'd seen, she was pushing him away all over again, as if he hadn't just been rescuing her from a snapped spine in the movie of her mind. "Stop doing that!" she said accusingly. "I have a decade dance to plan. I do not have time for your hybrid mind games!"
Klaus groaned as he flopped down on her couch, throwing his hands up in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you that I am NOT planting images in your head, Caroline?" he griped. She sat down at the table, sneering at him before casting her eyes to her work. "If you're remembering something, it's because I am your mate. Everything I have told you has turned out to be true. Why are you fighting this?" he asked in exasperation as she ignored him.
Caroline rolled her eyes dramatically but didn't look up from her project. "If you're going to sit here, at least be quiet and let me work. The dance is tomorrow!" she snapped.
"Anything I can do?" Klaus asked hopefully.
"You can leave," Caroline suggested with a dazzling smile.
"Now, why would I do that when you're such a wonderful hostess?" he snarked. His hand shot into the air and caught the pencil she'd launched at him just millimeters before it pierced his eye. "I stand corrected," he laughed. She glared menacingly at him before returning to her plans. He tried to make small talk over the next hour, but she vehemently held her tongue. She was maddening. Everything in him longed to rip off her dress, bend her over the table, roughly take her from behind to show her who she belonged to… and who belonged to her. Sighing, he finally asked, "If I leave today, will you save me a dance tomorrow?"
Caroline's head shot to the side at the temerity of his relentless pursuit of her. She was about to turn him down when she saw the hopeful look hiding behind his arrogant façade. Something about his genuine look of affection touched some part of her that wanted to believe that what he was saying was true. That she was meant to be with someone after a millennium of never feeling like she was ever a perfect match with anyone. The idea itself was intoxicating, but this man was not the man she ever would have picked, and yet she was still drawn to him in spite of all he had done. After a thousand years, she wasn't exactly a saint herself. She didn't relish the kill the way he clearly did, but she was no stranger to bloodshed. Like Lexi, she had tried Stefan's diet. Also like her golden-haired best friend, she'd found it revolting.
After several long moments, Caroline offered him a slight nod of her head. "One dance," she said firmly.
"Once dance," he confirmed happily. He walked over to her and leaned down to kiss a secret spot just below her ear that he should definitely not have known would send shivers down her spine. When he saw that she was at a loss for words, he smirked before flashing out the door. Huffing, she returned to her work, her legs subconsciously pressing together as she ignored the bolt of electricity his expression had sparked between her thighs. Nope. Not attracted to him at all.
Caroline had another brief flash of the feeling of Klaus' skin on hers when she saw him walk in wearing his white suit, dirty blonde hair stylized to the era. When he smiled at her, she thought he looked almost bashful as he took in the sight of her in her 20s style fuchsia gown. "You look ravishing in that dress," he said provocatively, eyes roving over her perfect body.
"You need a new line," she scoffed with a huff, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. She turned to walk away from him, but as usual, he was right on her heels. There were times she was convinced he was more bloodhound than wolf for this very reason. "You really don't know how to take a hint," she snapped.
Rejection from his mate meant very little when he could smell her arousal mixed in with the aroma of stale gymnasium and sweaty teenagers. Klaus offered her an easy smile, dimples etched beneath his stubble. "Consider it part of my charm," he said with a flirty wink. He pulled out a flask from the inside of his vest and took a deep sip of high-quality bourbon. "Care for a drink?" he asked politely, offering her his alcohol. She narrowed her eyes at him but took the flask and downed it in a single gulp.
At Klaus' shocked expression, Caroline bit back a laugh. She handed him back the empty container, smiling smugly. "Consider it my reward for putting up with you crashing my dance," she teased with a sweet smile, sarcasm dancing behind her sapphire eyes.
"What's mine is yours," he replied with a shrug. He tossed the flask over his shoulder, easily landing it in a trash can thirty feet away.
"Show off," she grumbled at his smirk.
"I'm a man of many talents," he teased. Holding out his bent arm, he asked, "How about that dance?"
Caroline rolled her eyes as she let him lead her to the dance floor, ignoring the sparks that shot through her lower belly at the way his touch made her skin flush. "One dance," she said sternly as he pulled her to face him. "Then you leave. Got it?"
Klaus felt a stab of pain go through his chest at her eagerness to be rid of him, but he swallowed it down and didn't let it show on his handsome face. "I promise," he agreed with a small nod.
"Good," she said a little too quickly. However, their dance was anything but. One turned into two, then three. She found herself once again enjoying his company. After an hour, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as a memory returned. Harsh stubble tickling her lips. Soft touches from his calloused palms. Murmurs in Old Norse. Her lids fluttered as she flashed back to the day that they first made love. It was unseasonably warm, the leaves painted in bright reds and oranges in the autumn of her sixteenth year as a human. She could taste his anxiety on her tongue, could feel the nerves in his embrace as he slowly pushed into her for the first time.
This time, when she opened her eyes, she remembered. She lifted her head from his shoulder and peered into his eyes as she searched for the truth she'd known all along. She looked at Klaus and knew him as Nik, the first man she'd ever loved. He carefully examined her face, wondering what had caused that look of wonder to appear in her eyes, hoping so much that it was him. He moved them around the dance floor in time with the rhythm as he waited for her to speak. She moved with him, her mind in a haze.
"Take a good look at me now because I'll still be standing here," Darrin Criss cooed over the loudspeakers, breaking her out of her reverie as the song reached its climax.
Klaus slowly pulled her closer, eyes still locked on hers, determined not to let her deny him again. Tonight was the full moon. If this didn't happen soon, the chance would be gone for another month. "You coming back to me is against all odds," he mouthed in time with the ballad as he slowly rocked them back in forth, his lips a hairs breadth away from her mouth. He wanted her so much it hurt. His wolf longed to mate with her with every fiber of his being, the rising moon calling to his inner beast. "It's the chance I've got to take," he silently sang as he let his lips brush hers before kissing her tenderly.
Caroline closed her eyes and momentarily gave in to his advances. The speakers played the final notes of the song, the brief silence drawing her back to the dance. She pulled back and out of his arms, quickly rushing outside. "Please don't run away from me, love," Klaus begged as he chased after her into the parking lot.
Caroline spun around, her fingers clutching at her wavy blonde locks. "What do you want from me, Nik?" she shouted, so hysterical that she failed to notice that she called him by the nickname she'd always used as a human but had refused as an immortal.
"I just want you to be honest with me," he implored her, sincerity evident in his tone as he pleaded with her.
"About what?" she asked, shrugging miserably.
"Tell me what you saw when we were dancing," he said in a commanding tone.
"I've already told you that I don't remember anything about us!" she cried out in frustration. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Let it go? Let her go? And why did she want so desperately for him to NOT let go? To throw her to the ground and ravish her as he had as a wolf. He knew when she lied the next morning that she had remembered that, but he'd let it go for the time being. This time he wasn't giving up as easily.
Klaus flashed in front of her, eyes flashing yellow. "You're lying, and you know it." He firmly held her hand to his chest as he growled, "You're lying to me, but are you lying to yourself, too?" When her mouth fell open, but no words came out, he pulled her closer. "Can you look me in the eye and truly tell me you feel nothing for me, hmm? Do you really remember nothing of our bond? Nothing about our childhoods spent running through the forest?" Wrapping an arm around her waist, he stroked a small spot just above her elbow with his thumb that made her involuntarily lean into him. He shouldn't have known that spot would make her melt, but he did. His warm breath tickled the shell of her ear when he whispered, "Nothing of all the times we stole off to the woods to-"
"Maybe I remember some things," she admitted sadly, cutting him off. "But..." Her voice trailed off as she struggled to find the words.
"But nothing!" Klaus growled. "You know what I say is true. Stop denying what is right in front of you! Why are you doing this to yourself?" he demanded. "I love you, Caroline! Why can't you just admit that I am your mate?"
"Because I don't remember loving YOU!" she shouted, pushing him away and storming off to her car across the parking lot.
Undeterred, Klaus aggressively stomped after her across the asphalt. He spun her around, trapping her between the hard planes of his muscular body and her driver's side door. "But you do remember somethings. You said it yourself," he reminded her with a gesture at where they'd just been standing when she confessed. "Tell me what you saw, Caroline!" He shook her durable frame as his eyes glowed under the white light of the moon high overhead.
"There's nothing I can say. Is there?" she asked quietly, sniffling in the dark. "You're never going to let this go. What do I have to do to prove to you that there is no us?" She pressed her eyes closed, a tear escaping as she fought so hard against the truth.
"Just meet me in the woods when the moon reaches its apex and I will prove it to you," he begged his mate, the agony on her face ripping through his chest. She gulped down a lump in her throat and slowly opened her eyes, audibly exhaling through her nose. "Please, sweetheart. Come to the altar," he whispered, gently kissing her cheek. "I'll be waiting."
Klaus sat under the stars as the moon rose higher and higher. He'd come here every month since he'd fed Caroline his blood, hoping each time that he wouldn't be going home alone. He didn't have a lot of hope left in him, but still he waited. His ears pricked up when he heard a twig snap in the distance, followed by a slight whoosh of air. "You came," he gasped, eyebrows flying up in shock when Caroline waltzed up to the stone altar on which they were to mate. He'd been curled up on the rock for hours, shivering in spite of his supernatural resistance to the cold. It was a different kind of ice that chilled his veins tonight, the kind that was immune to the thin Henley and jeans he now wore.
"Just to prove you wrong," she sassed, staring at him with one hand on her hip, her nipples already stiffening under his lustful gaze.
Klaus pressed his lips together to suppress the witty retort that sprang to mind. He didn't care why she was here. All that mattered was that she'd come. The Original Hybrid was glad to have her back to her old self anyway. As humans, she'd never held her tongue. He didn't want her to start now. If she was here, then at least some part of her, no matter how small, believed that there was a tiny possibility that maybe, just maybe, they were meant to be after all... and she was willing to do what he asked under the light of the moon. That willingness was all he needed. She was here and would soon be his. All he had to do was remind her why no other man would ever measure up to her one true mate.
Caroline looked up at him from beneath her long lashes and shrugged. "What do you want me to do?" she asked, rolling her eyes at his lecherous smirk as she pressed her thighs together in anticipation, excitement thrumming through her veins. If nothing else, she figured he'd make it worth her while even if nothing magical happened.
Klaus' smirk morphed into a wide-open grin when she let him run his hands up and down her ribs, slowly and sensually. "First," he replied, tugging her to him, "I want you to get rid of these pesky clothes." Before she had a chance to respond, he ripped off her pearls and dress. Her eyes flashed gold when he slammed them up against a tree, his hands all over her. In less than a minute, he had all of her bare before his greedy eyes. She shuddered and pressed herself closer to him when cool wind brushed her breasts, her nipples fully hardening under his careful examination as his eyes roamed up and down her exposed flesh.
Caroline wasted no time returning the favor. In the blink of an eye, she had his casual attire shredded and sitting in a pile with the torn remnants of their clothes and discarded shoes. Shock registered on his face when she pulled him to her by his dirty blond locks. All of Klaus' memories of their time together had returned, but this was not the gentle young girl he remembered making love to in a field of flowers. This woman was a fierce and fiery lover, dominating their kiss with her tongue pressed down his throat. He met her burning immediacy with his own, slamming her down on the rock.
Klaus gulped down his surprise when Caroline eagerly spread her legs, revealing her bald lips and creamy pink center for a brief moment before wrapping them around his waist. He growled around her tongue and bit her lower lip hard enough to send hot metallic drops across their teeth. His hand quickly found her breast, kneading and playing with her flesh. She moaned when he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, tugging painfully over and over. He kissed his way down her neck, taking her rosy nipple in his mouth and sucking hard.
Caroline let her head fall to the hard stone, her back arching to press her breast deeper between his hungry teeth. His hand snaked between their hard bodies, his thumb eagerly circling her clit. She was already beyond soaked. The hybrid suspected she had been for hours while she'd wandered around the woods debating whether or not to go to him. She knew she'd made the right decision when he sunk two fingers deep inside her core and hooked his fingers to hit her favorite spot. Only a perfect match could feel this good. How else did he know just how to touch her to make her fall apart so thoroughly so fast? Her eyes rolled back in her head as her first orgasm washed over her.
The world once again faded away as her walls convulsed around his expert fingers. She was fifteen and on her knees, his cock spilling in her mouth as she enthusiastically sucked him up and down for the first time. Her eyes flew open with the memory of his taste on her tongue, their glowing hue making him growl. She flipped them over and fiercely kissed him on the mouth before working her way down his torso with nips and licks. She held his hybrid gaze in hers as she took his cock in between her cherry lips, swirling her tongue around his head like she had so many times before.
Caroline moaned when the salty taste of his precum brought back the memory of the first time they'd had anal sex. She'd been pressed up against a tree as he pushed inside of her from behind, making her fall apart almost as soon as he'd penetrated her while he played with her pussy and bit her neck. Klaus groaned and wound his fingers in her wavy blonde hair, ripping out her pretty pink flower from the decade dance. He bucked his hips up into her mouth as she swallowed him down her throat. She let him guide her movements as she reached up to cup his balls, expertly twisting and pulling them just how she knew he liked.
"Fuck, love, keep going," he panted as she bobbed up and down along his thick shaft, eager to earn his release. He came with a shout, calling out her name into the woods. She lapped at his head greedily as she savored every drop of her reward. Her eyelids fluttered as the memory of the first time he tasted her pussy came rushing back to her. Reading her thoughts, Klaus rolled them over on the large, flat stone. He kissed her deeply, tasting himself on her tongue. He nudged her legs apart and teased her clit with his thumb, stopping to torture each nipple on the way down.
"Nik!" she growled when his tongue circled her clit before darting in between her folds to lick the inside of her walls. He longed to bury his cock deep inside of her, but the witches had been clear that they needed to claim each other in every sense of the word. He was quite certain they meant he needed to come inside of her as a man, and then blood share as wolves... but he'd decided it was better to play it safe. So, he'd told her the morning after her first transformation that he had to take her every way possible to restore their bond… and if it didn't work, if this was all he got, he wanted everything.
Klaus thoroughly enjoyed tasting every inch of her pussy before replacing his tongue with three fingers. He latched his lips around her clit, his stubble scraping the inside of her thighs. The memory of his harsh nips sent her back to the morning after they'd turned. Their mating had been fierce, all raw power and supernatural strength. Within a couple of weeks, he'd made his first kill and she'd been wiped from his memory, as he had been from hers. He devoured her completely, assuring both her, and himself, that they would never forget each other ever again.
Caroline bucked her hips forward, pulling his face closer to her pussy by his hair as she rode his face. He rapidly thrust his fingers in and out of her, slipping his pinky in her anus. He would have her there, too. If she didn't remember how much she'd begged for it as a freshly turned vampire, he would happily remind her. Her cries filled the air as another orgasm ripping through her. He furiously pumped in and out of her holes until she soaked his mouth in her release. He lapped up every drop before climbing back on top of her. He kissed her deeply, feeding her the juices she'd so readily given him as another memory flashed in her mind. They were lying nude beside the river when he'd asked to taste her. She'd blushed furiously when he parted her folds with delicate fingers to tentatively touch her clit with his tongue.
Caroline's eyes flew open when Klaus flipped her over and pulled her to her knees, teasing her anus with the tip of his erection. He leaned down and played with her nipples, her back arching up against the hard planes of his chest. He kissed her neck as he slowly thrust only an inch inside of her before retreating, carefully stretching her ring of muscles wide over and over until she was ready to receive his hard length. "Do you want me to take you here?" he huskily whispered into her ear as he teased her with an additional inch. She vehemently nodded her head, leaning into his hot kisses. She whimpered when he finally pushed all the way inside of her ass.
Caroline squeaked when his fingers tightened on her nipples as she squeezed his cock over and over while he penetrated her from behind. In a thousand years, nothing had made Klaus feel as good as being inside his one true mate. He claimed her in the most primal of ways as he roughly fucked her on her hands and knees. She balanced on one palm, using her hand to relocate one of his to her clit. She swirled her hips around his fingers, encouraging him to press three of them inside her dripping pussy. Pleasure overwhelmed her when he rubbed her clit up and down with his thumb in time with his double penetration. She flew over the edge and came with a scream. Suddenly, she was fourteen and he was slipping his fingers between her folds for the first time, her blush brighter than the sun overhead in the 11th century sky as he gave her the first orgasm of her long life.
Klaus helped his mate ride out her most recent orgasm before removing his fingers from her core. He rose to his knees, gripping her hips to support her as he increased his pace to a punishing rhythm. He closed his eyes and fucked her hard and fast, losing himself in the feel of her. Desperate to keep the memories coming, she fell to her shoulders to free a hard to find her clit. She harshly rubbed her little bud up and down until they came together, his hot seed filling her ass while he pounded her through their combined release.
Klaus collapsed on top of her in a heaving, panting mess while she remembered the first time he'd covered her knuckles in hot, white, sticky come. They were skinny dipping in the river behind the village when she'd surprised him by taking his cock in her hand when they were making out as teenagers. She could hear that same stream off in the distance as clearly as she'd heard it a thousand years ago. They lay there for several minutes while the air returned to their lungs. Before long, he was reverently kissing her shoulder, ready to complete their mating. "I wish I had the words to tell you just how deeply I am in love with you, Caroline," he whispered as he worshipped her inside and out. "Please remember me, sweetheart," he pleaded, his voice cracking as he nuzzled her neck.
When Caroline rolled over and looked into Klaus' glowing hybrid eyes, she knew him as her one true mate the moment he pushed his thick cock deep into her waiting pussy. "I do, Nik," she murmured softly. She leaned up and kissed his tattoo of a feather exploding into a flock of birds. That hadn't been there then, but she liked that it was there now. She liked that they were here now, together. He saw the recognition in her eyes and sighed in relief, giving himself over to her as she flipped them over and rode his cock beneath the moon.
The Original reached up and played with her hard nipples as she bounced up and down on his thick shaft. Her head fell back in ecstasy as she remembered the first time he'd tasted her breasts in the middle of the forest. So many memories flew to her mind as she rose and fell, his cock impaling her core as deeply as she could take him. She spread her legs to accommodate as much of him as possible, desperate to feel him where he belonged: inside of her. They'd had a thousand years stolen from them. There was nothing they could do about it except try to make up for lost time. When she felt his thumb circle her clit, she vowed to make up for it as many times a day as they could physically handle.
Klaus groaned at the feel of her pussy stretched tight around his throbbing shaft, her legs spread wide to take what he had to give. Her hands landed hard on his chest when she fell forward as an orgasm overtook her. He reached up and tucked a messy blonde tendril behind her ear, mesmerized by the look on her face as she came for him in the same forest in which their love had begun so long ago. He circled her clit over and over, forcing her to ride out wave after wave of pleasure, his eyes never leaving her face. Flushed and writhing, she'd never looked lovelier.
Caroline fell forward, her chin hooking around his shoulder. Klaus wrapped his arms around her and viciously fucked her pussy as hard as he could, slamming into her at supernatural speeds. She screamed into his neck, pulling her knees up higher against his torso to give him better access to hit a spot he knew was there deep inside her pulsing center. Her fingernails turned into claws as her transformation begun. His did the same, shredding the tender flesh of her back when she began to come around his cock as their mating neared its end. She raked her razors down his upper arms, blood pouring down his biceps and onto the stone.
Klaus howled beneath the moon as Caroline once again shattered all around him. A waterfall gushed down over his thick cock as he fucked her through her strongest orgasm of the night. It took every bit of discipline he'd learned in a thousand years to keep hammering into her until she was finished before pouring himself inside of her where he had always belonged. She wrapped her arms around his sweaty neck and kissed him as their bones began to crack. There was no pain, no agony, no fear. Never again would she deny the truth. She was a wolf and he was her mate. Nothing mattered as long as they were together.
Caroline was the first to complete her transition. She sat back on her haunches and howled at the moon as it reached its apex. Klaus' answering cry chimed in when he sat next to her. They looked deep into each other's glowing hybrid eyes for long moments before he tore into her neck. He swallowed several deep gulps before offering her his own throat. Sinking her fangs into his veins, she greedily drank from him as the last of her memories returned to her. The moment they met as children. The first time she saw him as more than a boy from her village. The excitement of their first kiss. The joy of their first lovemaking. The perfect peace that came with belonging to one another.
The wolves nuzzled each other one last time before leaping off the altar and bounding off into the forest side by side, their mating bond now completely restored. It had taken them a thousand years to get here, but they both knew this was only the beginning. They had eternity stretching before them to live and to love as they were always meant to. Their love ran deeper than any spell or curse ever could. Their destiny was written in the stars in the sky that shone down upon their shiny coats, glowing light twinkling on the leaves that rushed by in a blur as they danced between the trees all through the night and into always and forever.