Bloody Symphony | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 12

It was the day before the wedding.

Natanya would have liked to say she accomplished more than just sampling food and picking out her own dress. But that was just about all that she'd done.

"You guys never have time to talk about all the details I thought up," she muttered when Jackson was walking with her to Mary's cabin, where Alphas from other Packs outside the state were gathering to bow down to Jackson and accept the blessing at the wedding. "Don't blame me for not getting anything done."

"Sorry," he said, having been hounding her about the logistics just seconds before. "Guess I forget that we gotta give our opinions too, and we're not."

"You two are getting... real close. Aiden told me you were both holding some of the brooms the Pack gifted you guys, earlier."

Jackson laughed. "Oh, well, Hayley was confused about why they were there, and I had to explain."

"And y'all didn't get frisky after that?"

"Oh, no, no... we um... agreed we'll save it for the night of the wedding."

"Tomorrow night then."

"Yeah."

"And after that, you'll only ever have sex with her for the rest of your life. Damn, I'm starting to wish I was born first. Hayley's hot."

"That's the problem," he said. "She's hot, and I'm, well, me."

"Come on, I lost too many female friends because of them finding you attractive, dating you, and then getting dumped by you. If Hayley had an issue with your looks, y'all would not be getting married. People say looks don't matter, and maybe they don't in the sense that it's not all you should be focusing on, but let's be real. If there's no physical attraction whatsoever, you likely won't last with that person."

"Jackson's just worried," said Aiden, popping up behind them and wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "He thinks he's not gonna be good enough in bed."

"I never said that," said Jackson, though his face turned red.

"Ah, but you thought it, bro," said Aiden. "Why, is it 'cause she slept with an Original, you think you won't be up to par?"

Natanya shivered and made a face. "You know, a lot of people probably think Klaus is good in bed, but with that attitude he has, all I can imagine is being criticized for your flaws while in throes, and that leaves a terrible feeling in my stomach."

"Exactly!" said Aiden. "Hayley doesn't like Klaus. She's not gonna be comparing the experiences. Just try your best."

"You make it sound like a damn talent show," muttered Jackson.

"It kinda is, you know," the other male said, wiggling his eyebrows. "She shows off what she knows and tries to get a reaction out of you, then you show off what you know and see how it affects her..."

"Can we like, not talk about this?" said Natanya. "She has vampire hearing, you know, and she's gonna be arriving here soon."

"All I'm saying," said Aiden, "is don't be insecure. You're the fucking Alpha. Hayley likes you a lot. It's obvious. And oh, would you look at that..."

They'd walked up to all the Alphas, who were waiting around on lawn chairs outside Mary's cabin. They were all dressed in different sorts of gear, but all appeared to resemble lumberjacks. The group consisted of some of the tallest and most muscular men Natanya had ever seen. And a few had stone cold gazes that made her feel uncomfortable when their eyes drifted over her.

"Do other werewolves really look like that?" she whispered as they walked up. "I'm scared to know what they look like when they turn. Those guys are huge..."