Bloody Symphony | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 41

March 26, 2019

Not much had changed in five years.

Natanya remained frustrated. She would have thought that her connections in the wolf community would have granted her the ability to accomplish in what year what she'd barely managed in five.

She'd kept it all very lowkey. Working diligently with the wolves, building sturdier homes and helping many get housing throughout New Orleans. She met with Vincent and Marcel once a month to discuss progress with their peace agreement. So far, the witches, wolves, and vampires all seemed to be getting along just fine.

On the side, she was searching. She couldn't travel anywhere, as that would be suspicious. But she did send information to Hayley, having her check in certain areas to find pure wolves willing to give their venom. Natanya knew many of the other Alphas, and had started with contacting Hayden Villoré, the Alpha of the Deep Water Pack, who she'd met years ago before Hayley and Jackson's wedding.

Hayden nodded in understanding. "Hey, at least you're honest about it. Thanks for the dance. I don't know if I could have survived being turned down without being told why."

"Excuse me."

Natanya stepped back, seeing Elijah was there, holding his hand out to Natanya. "May I?" he asked, though he didn't really leave much room for anyone to say no.

"Go ahead," said Hayden, smiling a bit at Natanya. "I'll be seeing you around." He walked away, and Natanya blushed as Elijah pulled her close, her body almost completely pressed up to his.

She'd actually traveled to see him, to see what contacts she could add based on the Alphas he knew, closer to his area. Being around him had brought up memories of her time with Elijah, in those days just before she and the Original had even slept together for the first time. It had been overwhelming, remembering that whilst Elijah was locked in a coffin, his mind trapped in a Chambre de Chasse so that he could remain alive.

Her feelings for him remained unchanged, in the sense that she still loved him. It had taken the majority of two years for her to feel like she could forgive him, once she saw him again. Marcel was mostly healed, and was as bitter and ruthless as ever. She knew that Elijah had done something very, very wrong. And yet, she knew that it couldn't be changed. And she could only hope that this time, Elijah would truly learn from his mistakes.

The problem was that she hadn't taken a single bit of time to reflect on her own. She absolved herself of any guilt in the name of staying sane. She didn't want to think of the role she played in the destruction of the Mikaelsons. She knew that if she gave it more thought, if she accepted that she'd stayed with Elijah far too long, and had only harmed him, she would lose her mind. Because then, Davina's death would be her fault. Marcel being the beast would be her fault. Many other things would be tied to decisions she made. She wouldn't survive knowing the truth. Deep down, she was aware of it. She just refused to take a peek and internalize it.

She missed Elijah even though she shouldn't. Nearly every day she wondered what he must be doing in the Chambre. Was he waiting impatiently, wondering why he hadn't been woken up yet? She felt empty without him. Whether that was because of her own paranoia of losing his love or because of the mate bond, she didn't know.

Though Hayden had given her a significant amount of information, it wasn't as much as she would have liked it to be. The Paxons and the Malraux wolves remained as hard to find as ever, and it was because of those two Packs that the cure's creation had been delayed for so long. Though Cami and Mary took turns going to take care of Hope, Hayley couldn't keep disappearing to search when there was nothing to find. She'd already faced death many times when her missions had left her in grave danger.