Prey
Even a man who is pure in heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright
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“Ms. Mikaelson!”
Hope's head jerked up and through bleary eyes, she stared back at Mrs. Tig who shook her head at her.
Her history teacher sighed as her student looked back blankly at her as if she hadn't heard a single thing she had said during the last twenty minutes. Hope was not a bad student, but since this summer she seemed to be utterly exhausted as if she spent her entire night playing Lacrosse and then go out partying until the first period.
But Hope wasn't the type of student who would do that, so Emma was not sure why one of her pupils was acting this was.
The auburn-haired girl still stared back at her and Emma saw how red her eyes looked.
Did Hope smoke and was high now?
Was she smoking weed or was there something different going on?
The teacher sighed and moved on to the next student, asking something about some random dude on France and Hope zoned out again. She knew that Mrs. Tig was disappointed in her, but she couldn't help it. The short girl couldn't keep up anymore with everything that was going on with her life and school just wasn't that high on her list.
“Between 1764 and 1767.”
The smooth voice of Josette Saltzman answered and Hope turned her head slightly to the left to get a better look at the brunette.
She was wearing a yellow crop shirt and high-waist jeans, making her legs appear longer than they actually were. Her hair was in a messy bun and she looked a bit younger than she actually was. And more innocent. Like she couldn't hurt a fly even if the fly had a knife in her hand was vomiting hot molten lava at her.
What a weird thought.
The brunette seemed to notice her staring and looked over, blushing slightly as she saw Hope's eyes at her.
Josie crossed her legs and she hunched over her desk defensively, peeking over one last time at Hope before turning her eyes back at the teacher.
“Very good.”
Mrs. Tig gave the brunette a wide smile and turned over to Hope again, not missing the slight interaction for one moment.
Mrs. Tig kept smiling as she turned back to the auburn-haired girl and Hope gulped, knowing she was screwed.
“And where did it happen?”
Where did what happen?
Hope kept blinking at her and her fingers began to drum on her desk, showing off her anxiety to every student that was sitting here with her.
Alyssa Chang sighed loudly next to her as if Hope was unable to answer the simple question of who what one plus one was. The black-haired girl whipped back and forth as she kept staring at the Mikaelson girl. In front of her MG looked worriedly at her and formed some words but Hope was not able to decipher it. He seemed to be spelling out the answer for her but it was all in vain. Rafael, who sat next to him, clenched his jaw and kept staring at the front of the class, totally ignoring Hope and her attempt to answer Mrs. Tig. She knew that he was probably angry with her but she couldn't help it. She was new to this and her whole life had been turned upside down in a matter of minutes. And all he cared about that she would keep it together.
Mrs. Tig sighed again and gave her a stern look.
“Ms. Saltzman?”
The teacher turned back to the brunette and Josie gave the auburn-haired girl a worried look before she answered.
“Gévaudan.„
Hope's head turned around violently and she kept her eyes fixed on the brunette, making the other girl squirm slightly under her heavy gaze.
She could hear Rafael taking a deep breath in front of her and Hope couldn't shake the feeling as if she had done something wrong.
They didn't know.
They couldn't know.
It was just a dumb history lesson and they would move on to a different subject next week.
“Very good, Ms. Saltzman.”
Mrs. Tig smiled at the brunette one last time as she walked towards the front again and clicked onto her laptop.
The PowerPoint slide changed and raveled a picture of a laughing animal, showing its teeth to the observer and standing on at least a dozen corpses.
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“Ms. Mikaelson, Ms. Saltzman, a word please.”
Mrs. Tig sat down on her desk as the rest of the class left and Hope could see Lizzie, Josie's twin sister, sending her a confused look before grabbing MG's hand and making her way out. The brunette twin seemed to be confused as well as Hope heard her gulp.
The auburn-haired girl peaked to her left and saw the brunette standing up before nervously making her way to the front, playing with the hem of her shirt while doing so.
Hope had seen her do that quite a few times, just as biting her lip or drumming her fingers against her desk. It was as if Josie had a lot of nervous energy flowing through her and it manifested as her always moving her body in some way.
Of course, Hope hadn't stalked her or anything.
She just kind of noticed.
Everyone noticed. Right?
“Hope.”
Mrs. Tig's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she shook her head slightly.
The young teacher sighed as she noticed the faraway look on the girl's face. She folded her hands and leaned over her desk a bit, looking into icy blue eyes until the auburn-haired girl looked away slightly embarrassed.
Her eyes wandered to the brunette standing awkwardly next to Hope, fidgeting with something in her hands and Emma wondered if Josie's anxiety was coming back with full force again. As a student counselor, she had talked with the younger girl about it and they worked on a plan together if it became worse. While Josie looked like she would combust any second now, Emma heard her steadily breathing in and she had to smile as she thought back at all the times both of them had practiced this.
Emma looked back at the Mikaelson girl.
“Hope,” she started again and Hope's eyes narrowed.
Josie peaked at the auburn-haired girl, blushing slightly while looking back straight ahead.
“Hope, I've noticed that you're not really here when we are in class.”
Mrs. Tig seemed to think about her next words as Hope shrugged nonchalantly at her words, seemingly ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Your grades are also slipping.”
The auburn-haired girl shrunk and gave Mrs. Tig an angry look. Her eyes seemed to become colder as before.
“So?”
Hope went into her defensive mode. She knew things were rather odd at the moment and she knew she was at least failing two classes now but it couldn't be helped. The auburn-haired girl was not only trying to navigate through her new life but also had to help her family with the quests that were coming to visit Mystic Falls in a few weeks and trying to keep Rafael off her back. He thought she was too attached to her humanity and that she would not be able to keep their secret a secret...
But he was wrong.
And Mrs. Tig didn't understand that. Probably because she had no idea but...
“So...” her teacher leaned back and gave her a small smile before fixing her gaze at the brunette, who visibly gulped.
Hope gave the brunette a confused look.
“Since Josie is one of my best students and the fact that you need to get some extra credit points...”
Hope disliked Mrs. Tig's grin that was now spreading on her face.
“... I decided that you two will get to work on an extra credit...”
Before Mrs. Tig could even think about finishing her sentence, Hope took a step back and interrupted her.
How could Mrs. Tig even think about that? She understood that she was lacking, but why would Josie also need to work on some extra credit projects while she was one of her best students as Mrs. Tig said.
“That's unfair.” she hissed.
The brunette took a step back as she heard the low growl in Hope's voice and her eyes widened at the sudden outburst of the auburn-haired girl.
“How come that she...” Hope pointed at the brunette and Mrs. Tig raised an eyebrow at her.
Oh, that was extremely irritating.
“... gets punished...”
Hope's hands began to shake slightly and she had to remind herself that she had to calm down or she would at Mrs. Tig's throat while Josie would be traumatized for life.
The auburn-haired girl took a shaky breath as she peeked over to the brunette, who seemed to play with a little yellow fidget spinner in her hands.
“...while I was the one who slept during class?”
Hope glared at her teacher who simply smiled back at her and gave her a knowing look.
“While it is nice that you defend your girlfriend...”
Josie began coughing next to her as if she had swallowed wrong while Hope's face lit up like a Christmas tree at those words.
Did she just...?
“... I don't intend to punish Ms. Saltzman with that task.”
As Josie recovered beside her from almost choking to death, Mrs. Tig stood up and moved around her desk and moved towards the window. The teacher went to open her backpack and looked through her things for a few moments until she grabbed a few papers.
Mrs. Tig walked back to them and laid the papers out on the desk. Hope could identity a few words here and there but since everything was upside down she couldn't see what it was about.
“Ms. Saltzman asked for a letter of recommendation a few days ago and...”
She sorted through the papers and looked up again.
“... and I thought it would make an amazing letter of recommendation if I would mention how Ms. Saltzman would help other students achieve better grades and not failing their classes.”
Hope wanted to erase that shit-eating grin that now seemed to be permanently placed on Mrs. Tig's face. The teacher handed them the papers and Josie almost immediately looked at them, scanning the pages for anything important while Hope simply hold them in her hands, still looking at Mrs. Tig.
“Everything you need to know is on the paper...” Mrs. Tig added as she gave both of them a friendly but stern look.
“I want to see the presentation in two weeks.”
And with that, she ushered both girls outside and closed the door before any of them could protest.
The brunette was still silent and Hope wondered if Mrs. Tig had scared the poor girl so much with her idea of both of them working together. While Josie didn't seem to dislike her and Hope lovin... liking her... she didn't seem thrilled about the whole idea.
Maybe she needed a restart?
Is there a restart button on a Josie Saltzman?
Before Hope could finish her thought, Josie turned towards her and gave her a small but adorable smile that made her insides melt just a little bit.
“Do you wanna go out after school?”
Now it was Hope's turn to choke on her own saliva.
Did Josie ask her to meet up with her? After school? To go out? Like going on a date kind of going out? Not that she was desperate or anything but she wasn't opposed to the idea of spending some quality time with Josette Saltzman...
“Hope?”
Josie raised an eyebrow at the older girl and Hope breathed out slowly.
“I'm okay.” she rasped and Josie gave her a funny look as if she didn't believe her but the brunette chose not to comment.
She handed Hope a water bottle and the auburn-haired girl took a grateful sip.
“So after school?”
Hope tried not to choke again as she took a small sip and handed Josie back her water bottle.
“For the project?”
The auburn-haired girl gave her an almost sad look and Hope could feel something hot and uncomfortable moving inside her stomach. Making her squirm slightly as she tried to hide her disappointment.
Of course, she wasn't disappointed about the fact that she would be happy if Josie would maybe go out with her. Of course not. She was a Mikaelson. Not a lovesick fool.
“Yeah.”
The brunette gave her a brighter smile and Hope's knee felt like jelly for a second before she could compose herself again.
Josie stood there for another second until the bell rang again and she almost leaped from their position and rushed towards her next class.
But of course, Hope forgot to tell Josie something.
“Josie!” the auburn-haired girl yelled after her and the brunette stopped and turned around.
Hope looked at her for another moment, seeing how her eyes twinkled with mischief.
“I have basketball practice after school.”
Josie gave her a small smile and a blush illuminated her face with a red glow.
“I know.”
And with that the brunette turned around again and walked towards her class, disappearing in the crowd of sweaty and scared students.
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A basketball hit her square in the face and knocked her on her ass.
“Watch it, Mikaelson!”
Jed gave her his famous signature smirk as he jogged after the ball like he was a common dog fetching his ball for his master. Hope's eyes glowed yellow for a split second before she could control it and she saw Rafael giving her an annoyed look. He shook his head slightly and walked over to Jed to whisper something in his ear. Former hold out his hands in an apology and looked over to the auburn-haired girl, making sure she understood that it was just a stupid joke.
Hope sat up as the boys came over with the ball and she ignored Rafael's intense stare.
“You good?” Jed asked and gave the basketball, making sure that Hope was not angry with him.
“Yeah, all good.” she smiled and Jed gave her a thumbs up before he jogged away again towards his boyfriend Kaleb, who was waiting patiently for him at the door.
Rafael stood tall in front of her and made a face.
“You have to control it better.” his deep voice boomed in her ears while she was sure he whispered it to her, making sure their secret stayed a secret.
Hope gave him an annoyed look but her eyes didn't flash this time.
“I controlled it.” she sighed and tried to walk away but Rafael grabbed her arm, making her stay at the gym with him.
The rest of the group walked out, joking about something that Hope didn't hear while the both of them stayed put.
The auburn-haired girl breathed out slowly, making sure that her anger was not getting the better of her.
“Barley.” he sighed but didn't let go of Hope's arm.
She didn't know what to say to him. It didn't matter how hard she tried, she would never be enough in his eyes. She would always be the weak link, the one that could not control it.
Rafael's eyes softened at the sight of Hope and his voice was much gentler now.
“I know.”
He let go of her arm and his hand brushed shakily over his hair, making him looked as stressed as she felt. Hope knew he had a lot on his plate, being the one who kept the younger ones in check while the older ones talked about pack politics, but still...
“It's just hard with the alphas coming and we can't have the humans know.”
His brown eyes stared into hers and Hope looked away.
“I know.” she repeated softer this time.
Before any of them could continue with their conversation a familiar scent of vanilla and citrus and something that just smelt like home invaded Hope's nose.
“Hope?”
Josie was walking towards them, a folder in front of her as if she wanted to protect herself from the argument that had just taken place here. Her chocolate brown eyes seemed to widen at the tension in front of her and Rafael took a step back from Hope. He gave both girls a tight-lipped smile and walked away, leaving the two girls alone.
“Are you okay?”
Josie's hand touched Hope's arm carefully and the auburn-haired girl felt a pleasant shook going through her system. The brunette gave a small but bright smile and Hope could not help but smiling back. She could hear her own heart shudder and it started beating at the speed of light, making the blood rush into her ears.
“Yeah.”
Josie could see Hope's smile reach her eyes for the first time. The girl who always kept to herself, who never made friends outside her own group, never even talked to anyone outside her clique, the one that never smiled at anyone...
The one that stole her heart at the age of thirteen...
And Josie couldn't help but beam back at her, making the auburn-haired girl laugh softly.
Rafael stood at the door and looked back at them, his face twisting into something between worry and jealously.
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“The Beast of Gévaudan.”
“Mmh?”
Hope looked up as Josie screened the pages they were supposed to be looking at, writing down a few notes here and there.
The brunette looked up and smiled softly at Hope's confused facial expression. Seeing her falling asleep in class and now looking into her tired eyes after her training made her heart soften.
“The Beast of Gévaudan.” she repeated and Hope blinked at her.
The auburn-haired girl leaned over Josie to look at the pages, making the brunette blush sightly before she could compose herself, tough tired Hope seemed to be oblivious about that.
“An animal that killed a lot of people in a province in France around 17's.” Josie explained and Hope looked at the various pictures of some kind of monster either growling or being in mid-kill.
“An animal?” Hope asked and blinked at the picture.
Something about that seemed familiar.
“We covered a bit of it during class.” Josie mumbled and the auburn-haired girl raised an eyebrow at that.
That why it must be familiar, Hope thought.
There was nothing scary about it but something nagged at her back of her mind, warning her, but the auburn-haired girl ignored it.
Josie looked back at her and Hope gave her a tired but friendly smile.
“Sorry.” she whispered and stretched her limbs across her bed, touching Josie's left knee by accident.
“Long night.” she said rather fast before the brunette could comment.
The brunette felt heat surging through her body as Hope's legs touched her knee but she controlled herself before she would make a fool out of herself, acting like some lovesick teenager.
“That's okay.” Josie's voice soothed her.
There was a short moment of silence before Hope cleared her throat.
“So an animal killed a bunch of people and we have to make a presentation about that?”
The brunette gave her a funny look.
“Well, we cover European history,” she began before tapping nervously on her thigh with her fingers.
“...and this animal...” she emphasized the last word and Hope made a face at her, making the brunette giggle before she continued.
“...killed a lot of people, making them believe in some kind of supernatural monster roaming the earth.”
Josie roamed through the pages again while Hope's face paled, making her almost look as pale as the papers in front of them.
“A lot of scholars believe it was something like a public hysteria of the time as there were already a lot of stories about witches or werewolves killing people, giving the church an excuse to extend its power...” she trailed off but Hope wasn't listening again.
It was like something had fried her brain.
Werewolves?
Why did they cover werewolves in their history class?
Her mind trailed off again, making her think about Mrs. Tig's knowing eyes and she gulped.
A hand touched her thigh softly and Hope starred back into twinkling eyes.
“You look tired.”
Josie moved a strand of hair behind Hope's ear before she continued.
“We can work tomorrow on that if you want, maybe you should get some sleep?” it sounded more like a question than anything else, like the brunette seemed a bit unsure as to how to approach her properly.
Hope sighed as she felt the brunette's hand on her face and blinked almost sleepily at her.
Yes, maybe she just needed sleep.
Rafael was simply losing it, Mrs. Tig. Was not out to get her and nothing would go wrong when the alphas would come to town.
“Yes, maybe you're right.” she gave Josie a tired smile and the brunette couldn't help but think, how cute sleepy Hope really was.
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Hope screamed as she felt her bones break and rearrange themselves again, making her skin burn hotly and unpleasantly.
“You have to be ready.”
The booming voice of her father echoed through the room as Hope crawled towards his voice.
The auburn-haired girl looked up with teary eyes and saw her mother's red eyes look sorrowfully back at her as she screamed again in agony. Her teeth elongated and she could feel the blood rushing into her mouth, making her shake again.
The nap she took after she had left Josie's place made her feel a bit better but now it was like she hadn't slept at all.
Josie.
Her shaking subsided as she thought back at the brunette smiling at her softly. Her bones were still breaking but it wasn't as horrible as before.
Klaus' eyes looked at her daughter shaking slightly on the ground while her right leg seemed to be in the wrong angle. He loved his daughter with all his heart but he was afraid of what the other alphas would think about his newly transformed wolf daughter.
Three days. They only had three days.
Her bones kept breaking again but Hope kept thinking about the brunette, grounding her to her humanity.
The other wolves always told her that if she wanted to change properly she had to give in to her wolf and give up her human side, but they were wrong.
Yellow eyes blinked back at Klaus' red ones and a howl erupted from the white wolf in front of him, making him smile.
“We have to be ready for them...”
Lucien's face flashed across his eyes before settling his eyes back to his daughter.
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Josie kept tipping away on her laptop as Hope watched her from the brunette's bed.
A small smile spread from Josie's face, feeling the auburn-haired girl's eyes on her, feeling oddly satisfied with it.
“If you keep watching me...” she started and she heard Hope gulped behind her.
Josie turned around amused as Hope's eyes turned towards her notes, blushing while making sure that Josie hadn't seen her staring.
“... we're never gonna finish it.”
A giggle escaped her as Hope gave her best poker face.
“As far as I see it...”
The auburn-haired girl stood up and put her hands on her waist, making her seem tall and proud, though Josie would easily tower over her if she stood up.
“... you're the one staring.”
Hope's eyebrow rose and Josie couldn't contain her laugh anymore at the other's girl expression, grinning as a madman at her. And even Hope could not fight her contagious laughter, giggling with the other girl for a few minutes before both of them settled.
Josie still grinned as she moved towards her bed and sat down and signaled the other girl to do the same.
Hope sat down next to her and smiled.
“I think we need a short break.” the brunette explained and let herself fall onto her bed, closing her eyes for a moment before looking expectantly back at Hope.
The auburn-haired paused but mimicked the brunette and laid down next to her, feeling oddly relaxed with the vanilla scent invading her nose again.
“Tell me something about yourself.” Josie mumbled and Hope turned her head lazily towards the brunette.
“Like what?” she asked and couldn't keep out the slight shake of her voice.
If Josie noticed her nervousness, she didn't comment on it.
And Hope was grateful for it.
“Like...”
Josie trailed off before turning her whole body towards the auburn-haired girl, making Hope blush slightly.
“...what is your favorite color?”
Hope contained her giggle.
“Oh, nothing too deep, Saltzman.”
Josie slapped her arm slightly, making the other girl laugh again as Josie joined her.
The auburn-haired girl hadn't had this much fun in a while. She was either training with her dad or with Rafael to control her shifts and there was no fun play during that. But everything seemed lighter when she hung out with Josie like she was simply breathing air.
“Blue.”
Hope answered and gave Josie a small poke into her rips, making her smile again.
“And you?”
Josie seemed to think about her answer before staring into her eyes again.
“Yellow.”
There seemed to be a hidden message behind her words as Hope saw her eyes sparkle with mischief again as if Josie knew something about Hope that Hope didn't know. But Hope couldn't decipher it.
They kept asking each other questions until Hope's eyes moved around the room and stopped as she saw a small object sitting on her bookshelf.
“You play?”
Josie turned around and followed her eyes and sighed loudly when she spotted her ukulele.
“Yeah, but I'm not that good.”
Hope poked her again and Josie gave her a knowing look.
“But didn't you mention you have a solo play in a few weeks?”
Josie made a face at her.
“It's a school play, I practice every Thursday night at school but...”
Hope crawled closer.
“Will you play for me?”
“No.”
“Please?”
Hope gave her her puppy eyes and Josie rolled away from her as she saw the winning grin on her friend's face.
“Fine.”
Before she could decide against it she had the ukulele in her hands.
Hope moved behind her as she played a few accords to get into her grove.
“My heart has a little crush on you...”
Josie's voice filled the room and Hope's heart made a jump.
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The white wolf made its way through the forest, seemingly annoyed as the darker one had tried to follow her. But she had been quick to lose him and now she was making her way across the street, out of the shadow of the treeline.
Hope's yellow eyes moved across the horizon and stopped as she spotted two teenagers walking towards a building.
“I know Lizzie.”
The wolf shook its fur as she spotted two rather familiar girls and she smelt a vanilla scent again.
“I just don't want you getting hurt.”
Lizzie sighed as Josie looked through her purse for her house key.
Hope stalked closer and laid down on the ground so that the two of them would not see her.
“I like her, like really like her.”
The brunette played with her keys before looking back at her sister.
“But Mikaelson?”
Hope's ears turned towards the conversation, making her heart beat loudly.
“Lizzie!”
Josie hissed again as both of them moved inside, leaving Hope alone in the dark.
The white wolf shook its fur again before making her way back home, feeling awfully happy and giddy about the brunette's statement.
Missing red eyes following her movements before settling back its eyes on the twins' house.
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“How is the project going, Ms. Mikaelson?”
Hope looked up from the book she was currently reading and stared back into the eyes of Mrs. Tig.
“Good?”
It sounded more like a question than an answer.
Mrs. Tig smiled.
“I thought this would be an interesting topic for you...”
What?
Hope gulped and before she could say something, Mrs. Tig continued.
“And if you ever want to talk about something that is going on in your life, my door is always open.”
Mrs. Tig squeezed her shoulder slightly.
“It's a full moon tomorrow, so be careful.”
Mrs. Tig walked away and left Hope thinking about the implication she just made.
She knew.
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“Hope!”
Slender arms slung themselves around Hope's torso and made her blush.
Chocolate brown eyes twinkled with mischief and Hope sighed as vanilla invaded her senses. And something else...
Hope sniffed at the brunette and made her blush, stopping the hug and smiling awkwardly at her.
“Hope?” she asked again and Hope looked up, icy blue eyes staring back confused at her.
The auburn-haired girl crooked her head to the side confused, making Josie's eyes fill with joy at the adorableness of Hope... being Hope.
Hope on the other hand was a bit concerned now but she did her best to not let it show. Josie's scent was tainted by something wild. Something that reminded her of a wolf, but not something she knew. And it made her shiver with fear.
Something had made its way towards Josie and made sure that she smelled like it without killing her, meaning it was there to send a message.
“Sorry.” she mumbled as she gave the brunette a tight-lipped smile.
Josie's hand moved a strand of hair behind her ear again, reminding her of the first time she had done this.
“All good.”
The brunette smiled and gave her one last hug before she ran towards her last class of the day, leaving Hope standing in the hallway.
Someone had marked Josie and she was almost sure that it was someone who wanted to send a message to her.
Hope shivered at the thought of another wolf near the brunette.
Thinking back at Mrs. Tig's words and the new scent around Josie made Hope growl slightly, her eyes flashing yellow for a second.
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“I think she is a wolf.”
Hope played with her food as her mother looked exactingly at her.
“And why would you think that?” Hayley asked.
Hope rolled her eyes at her mother.
“I already explained, she...”
Hayley gave her a pointed look again and Hope sighed loudly.
“She is not a wolf. End of discussion.”
Hayley was beyond stressed now as the other alphas from the seven packs of northern Virginia were already here. Lucien was already here since last week, making Klaus nervousness leak throughout the whole pack.
She had made sure that Rafael would look after her again, but even he was not able to keep up with her daughter in wolf form.
Rafael was a good boy, pack over everything. And he had lost so much when he was bitten and his foster brother Landon had died. That's why he seemed to be so protective over their pack and Hayley appreciated it a lot.
The boy had told her about Hope seeing a girl from town, a normie. And Hayley was scared that one of the other alphas would do something drastic to show that Klaus was not the most powerful of them, leaving the girl or any other human friends of them in the crossfire.
Especially with Lucien stalking around town.
That's why they had these rules to keep to themselves. To leave the humans be, be safe and keep them safe.
And if Hope was seeing someone...
Hayley could see Hope playing with her food again and sighed.
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Basketball training was hard as Hope struggled with keeping an eye on a certain brunette and finding out what Mrs. Tig was planning.
She didn't trust the history teacher anymore.
Hope knew that Mrs. Tig had a secret and she was pretty sure that she was a wolf, letting her study about a werewolf and making implications about the full moon.
Hope threw the ball and it flew through the basket.
A low clapping sound echoed through the gym and Hope turned around, looking into familiar brown eyes.
The others were already leaving, having enough from throwing around balls while Hope walked slowly towards the brunette.
“Hi.” Josie breathed out and Hope smiled.
“Hi.” she mimicked.
Before she could add anything else the brunette gave her a quick hug and Hope winced at how sweaty she was. Poor Josie had to endure a stinky hug.
“I'm sweaty.” she mumbled into the brunette's hair and Josie giggled, letting her prisoner escape from her hug prison.
“I don't care. I missed you.”
Hope wasn't sure if Josie was drunk but she enjoyed that the brunette had missed her. Like she was needed. Like Josie needed her.
“I missed you too.” she whispered and didn't let go of the brunette just yet, still standing in front of her.
Josie blushed as if she didn't expect Hope's words before grinning brightly at her.
There was a moment of silence between them before Josie cleared her throat, making Hope look up at her.
“I have music practice tonight...” she trailed off knowing that Hope knew about her Thursday practices.
“Mmh.” the auburn-haired girl hummed, her thinking being limited as Josie played with her hair again.
Hope was definitely listening to her but she had a bit of trouble concentrating. Why does it have to feel so good when Josie played with her hair?
“... I think that maybe, if you're up for it...” the brunette trailed of and chocolate brown eyes met icy blue ones.
“...you wanna go out, maybe to dinner or...?” Josie began to ramble and she looked away quickly and retracted her hand, making Hope almost whine as the wonderful sensation of Josie's hand left her...
Wait...
That sounded wrong.
Hope shook her head before looking at the almost heartbreaking sad look of Josie's face, thinking about the question she was just asked.
“...you wanna go out, maybe to dinner or...?”
Josie thought that Hope meant no to her question as she shook her head so Hope quickly elaborated.
“Yes.”
She hastily breathed out and Josie's frown turned upside down, making Hope grin to.
She was going on a date with Josie Saltzman.
Hope's eyes lit up.
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Lucien Castel walked towards the Mikaelson's and the other alphas, grinning from ear to ear as if he had just won the Nobel Peace Prize.
His hold out his arms and Hope suppressed a groan.
“Klaus!”
Lucien's voice boomed through the room as his eyes lit up in a red eerie light, making the other alphas growl at him.
“Lucien.” Klaus greeted him, flashing his eyes at him.
Lucien was known for being a cunning wolf and had already made his fair share of attempts to kill Klaus or to kick him out of his powerful position as being the head of the alpha meetings.
He had never succeeded though and Klaus could never prove it was him, but he knew.
And Lucien had become more careful with his attempts.
Klaus had already been paranoid but with Lucien it took on a dangerous notch, making him question even his closest betas.
Rafael stood tall and his blue shining eyes matched Hope's yellow ones. He had his hands behind his back and showed off his muscles, making sure that no one would even dare to even look wrongly at his pack.
Hope had snickered before but know she appreciated him being here, making sure that everyone was safe.
“You're late.”
Klaus's voice shook her out of her thoughts and her eyes settled back on the newcomer.
Lucien walked closer, being flanked by another beta to his right, and smiled sinister at the Mikaelsons, letting his eyes pas everyone and his eyes lingered a moment too long on Hope.
“I had business to attend to.”
He shrugged and handed Klaus a bottle of wine as a present, a tradition for the alpha meetings.
Klaus raised an eyebrow, making him look exactly like Hope when she did that.
“Business?”
He asked casually and handed the wine bottle to his brother Elijah.
“A surprise.”
He didn't elaborate and Klaus didn't think it was the right moment to ask about it but he knew that Lucien was planing something.
That worm.
Klaus smiled again and while Lucien's eyes turned back normal, the other alpha let his wolf eyes stay red.
Hope suddenly felt nervous as she looked at the exchange. Something felt wrong and she couldn't shake the feeling that Lucien's gaze had lingered at her like he knew something very important that she didn't know. Something that she had to know.
Something seemed off about that guy and while her father had warned her about him, she couldn't shake off the feeling of fear invading her senses.
Rafael's hand touched her shoulder, making her relax a bit.
I have your back.
You're not alone.
Don't be afraid.
While Rafael had been a douche for the last few weeks he had her back now. He was there for her.
Hope had zoned out during their conversation but looked back up at her father's laugh.
“The humans?”
He pointed at Lucien and grinned like a madman, while the other stood still.
“Yes.”
Lucien's smile didn't leave his face and it made Hope want to vomit. Something was up. And Hope felt like she was too late for something extremely important, something of a matter of life or death.
A familiar scent invaded her nostrils but Hope couldn't identify it with her sudden panic.
“I think it is time to come out of the shadows.”
Lucien walked through the room, looking at every one of the other alphas. Some of them seemed interested in what he had to say while most of them shook their heads in disbelief. Like he had just said something extremely inappropriate.
“There are rules. And they are there for a reason.” Klaus growled and took a step forward.
The other alpha stood his ground, still smiling in Klaus's face.
“And I think it's time to change that.”
Lucien stood tall, not intimidated in the slightest at Klaus's facial expression.
Klaus stopped, knowing that Lucien hadn't revealed all his cards yet.
Before Klaus had even had the chance to talk Lucien started talking again, raising his hands in a friendly way, like he wanted to shower you with gifts. Dangerous gifts.
“We have lived too long in the shadows.”
Hayley growled lowly and her eyes flashed red.
“We have to hide ourselves while they get to live under the sun.”
Rafael stepped from one foot to the other.
“Even your daughter, Klaus, seemed to have found a liking to a certain human girl.”
Lucien snickered and Hope paled.
“No...”
Hope breathed out and she could not contain her shaking anymore.
The scent, that seemed so familiar, came back stronger. The same one that she had smelled on Josie a few days ago. The same one...
Lucien crooked his head to the side, smiling brightly at her.
“But of course I would never defy your rules...”
Hope breathed out shakily.
Maybe he hadn't hurt her...
“So I gave her the gift...”
Hope screamed as her eyes turned yellow and her teeth elongated. She could feel claws coming out of her fingers and Rafael had to grab her and hold her back.
Lucien snickered, not caring the slightest that he may have killed Josie or not. The bite could either turn you or kill you. And Lucien didn't care. He wanted to show who had the power in this room and even if a human girl had to die because of that...
It was worth it.
Hayley stood in front of her daughter.
“Hope, you can't.” she pleaded and Hope almost howled in agony.
If Hope would attack Lucien now it would give him the excuse he needed to end them. Hayley had to protect the pact.
But Hope was not having it, staring with teary eyes at Lucien.
“She has a talent with her ukulele and a beautiful voice...” he trailed off, picking his nails in boredom.
Hope blinked.
She was in the school.
Without another word she tore herself away from her mother and Rafael and ran outside, turning mid-air into w white wolf.
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Hope didn't care that she was naked when she arrived at the school gate.
She only cared about finding Josie.
Oh god.
She shakily broke the lock of the front door and the first thing that hit her was the smell of blood.
A howl erupted from her throat and fear overtook her senses, making everything glowing gold and blurry.
Her feet hit the ground and she was up running, following the smell of blood.
She had promised Josie to see her tonight after her practice, going on a date with her. Having normal teenage fun, throwing with popcorn at each other in the cinema, or stealing her fries while they were in the dinner. She would love at Josie's stupid jokes and Josie would giggle when Hope would imitate Jed and Kaleb being sickly sweet to each other. Josie would clap her hands happily, telling her how lucky Jed was at finding Kaleb while Hope would blush, hoping that the brunette would think the same about them.
Don't let her be dead.
Hope ran down the hallway towards the music room.
And then the two of them would go home, being extra slow so they would have some more time together. Hope would lean into the brunette while Josie would intervene their finger s and Hope would know that Josie's heartbeat would beat so fast against her own body, similar to her own. And Hope would debate on whether or not she should kiss her or it was too early for that. Or if she should ask beforehand as consent was very important to her. And Josie would laugh lowly when she would see her facial expression.
Hope almost slammed into another body as she made her way around a curve. Mrs. Tig was standing before her, a nasty gash on her forehead and she tried her best to stand upright, holding out wolfsbane in front of her.
Hope growled, feeling it burning her arm slightly as it gazed her.
“Hope?”
Mrs. Tig lowered her weapon slowly and tears formed in her eyes.
“I tried to protect her, your mother asked me to protect her...” she trailed off but Hope couldn't hear her.
Where was she?
She can't leave her.
And Hope started sprinting again, ignoring the stinging pain that shot through her arm as she grabbed the wolfsbane and threw it on the ground.
Hope would feel the first raindrops hitting her face as they made their way towards Josie's house, shivering slightly at the sensation. And Josie would look at her with those beautiful dark brown eyes. The brunette would stop and make Hope frown, making her think she did something wrong. But then she would move a strand of hair away, like she did so many times before, leaving a pleasant sensation on Hope's skin. And she would smile while the world around them turned dark, rain hitting them now with full force. She would move her hands towards her face, looking for something in Hope's eyes, and smiled lovely at her as she found it. She would dip down her head and would give her a chaste kiss, moving away quickly, but Hope wouldn't let her. The auburn-haired girl would chase after her lips and would keep them locked, making the brunette shudder at Hope's sudden wild side, but she would not complain. She would happily comply when Hope would ask for permission with her tongue and she would press herself closer to her, making Hope become the happiest girl on earth.
Hope opened the door to the music room and almost chocked on her tears as she saw the body on the floor.
“Josie!”
She made her way towards the brunette and pressed her body close to her.
Josie was breathing heavily and she opened her eyes lazily when she heard the auburn-haired girl's voice. She slowly lifted her hand and touched Hope's face, leaving a red dot there.
“Hope...”
The brunette smiled and Hope tried to smile back but it resembled more of a grimace.
“Hey...” Josie said, wanting to make her grimace disappear, but failing miserably as her hand fell down again.
Hope felt the tears falling down her face and onto the brunette as she grabbed her hand squeezed it slightly, letting her know that she was there.
The auburn-haired girl couldn't contain her sob anymore, seeing Josie lying there on the floor, bleeding all over the floor because Lucien thought about going after her father again.
Her eyes flashed up and Hope looked away ashamed, losing control while...
While...
She couldn't think about Josie dying.
Josie could not die,
She couldn't.
A hand moved a strand of hair away and Hope looked back at the brunette.
“You remember what my favorite color is?” she asked and Hope looked confused back at her through teary eyes.
“Yellow...” Hope trailed of and Josie smiled tiredly at her.
“Like your eyes...”
Hope's eyes widen at the sudden realization.
Josie had known what she was, probably for some time now and she still stood by her side. Josie had chosen her. The brunette had decided that even while Hope was a monster, she was worth it. She was worth her love.
Hope sobbed with something between relief and fear.
Relief that Josie still loved her, despite everything.
And fear that she would not make it.
The auburn-haired girl pressed her forehead to hers and breathed out shakily. Hope loved her. And even if Josie hadn't said that she loved her too, she knew it. Somewhere deep down in her heart she knew that the brunette loved her, loved her enough to not see the monster lurking behind her eyes.
A soft hand caressed her face.
“Kiss me.”
And Hope complied. She kissed the brunette so softly as she could, poured all her love into it, all her feelings into it. She wanted her to know how much she loved her, how much pain she was in, how much sadness she felt, the rage behind the attack, and the misery. The misery she felt that she was only attacked because of her. Because she was with Hope. And Hope could feel all the emotions that Josie poured into their kiss as well, the happiness she felt when they hung out together, the giddiness she felt when Hope would keep staring at her from behind, the nervousness about asking her on a date, and the fear of rejection. But above all Hope could fell the love about seeing Hope every day, looking at her from afar when she threw a basketball, when she slapped Rafael's arm while Jed and Lizzie would poke her during class that she had a new crush or when she played her ukulele for Hope, singing just for her.
Her heart beat stopped.
Hope's eyes teared up as she felt Josie going limp, pressing herself closer to the brunette.
The auburn-haired girl sobbed loudly and began to shake.
No.
This was not happening.
She was not dead.
She wasn't dead.
She wasn't...
Hope could smell all the blood and could feel the pain the brunette had been in from just looking through the room.
And down to her left lay a broken ukulele. Blood splattered all over it.
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And then she heard a gasp.
Looking back at the brunette's face she stared back into two yellow eyes, twinkling with mischief and something far more dangerous.
Love.
At this moment, the brunette was a predator while Hope was the prey. Josie pressed their lips hungrily together, hugging her closer.