Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 5

Hayley woke her early to go to the Bayou.

The walk wasn't bad. The Crescent encampment was closer than Graciela realized. And, despite the random tent placement, it looked like a cute little campsite. Once one got used to the bugs, it seemed like it would be a nice place to live.

The wolves who'd been living in the Compound were moving back into their tents, now that Jackson was showing his face again. Of course, they didn't seem to be greeting him very warmly. They likely thought him a coward for staying away.

Aiden was waiting for them by Jackson's trailer. Graciela recognized him, having seen him in passing back when he and the others would come by the Guerrera House to get moonlight rings made for them. He greeted her with a simple nod, wringing his hands nervously.

"The wolves are freaking out," he told them, referencing the wolves that served Esther. "They know it had to be an insider who took down Vincent last night, seeing as no one could have been anywhere near him."

"Did anyone suspect it was you?" asked Jackson.

Aiden shook his head. "No, not yet. But, they're gonna figure it out, which pretty much means I'm screwed unless we come up with a plan."

"Call a meeting," said Hayley. "The whole pack, tonight. If they're so scared, now's the perfect time to convince them they need to ditch Esther."

The wolf wiggled his fingers, showing off the moonlight ring he was wearing. "She gave them moonlight rings."

"Well, those rings make you slaves."

"No," countered Aiden, "they make us powerful. We were exiles before, but now we run the city! The vampires are scared of us, and nobody, including me, is just gonna walk away from that because—"

"Set the damn meeting," Jackson interrupted, standing right in front of Aiden and staring him down.

Aiden backed down as Jackson walked away. Hayley followed after him, and Graciela awkwardly stood beside Aiden, who muttered, "Could have said please," prior to leaving the Bayou.

Graciela made towards Hayley and Jackson, listening in on their conversation. "So," said Hayley, "are you gonna work on a rousing speech, or just get day-drunk?"

"Little bit of both," said Jackson, picking up a beer bottle.

Hayley snatched it away from him. "Jack, it's ten A.M."

He sighed, grabbing a brown, leather-bound journal instead. "You know, for months, I wrote down every single word Ansel said. The entire history of our people. If only I'd known he was Klaus' father, I would have asked him a hell of a lot more. You know, I was up all night looking through this, trying to find something, anything that will help me figure out how to get our people back together."

"Let me guess," said Hayley when he tossed the book aside, "no such luck?"

"Nothing viable. And now, Ansel's dead... along with Ollie. So, forgive me if I need a beer, 'cause right now, I can use all the help I can get."

"Ansel was Klaus's dad?" asked Graciela once Jackson was out of sight and Hayley was picking up the journal.

"Yep," she replied. "Esther resurrected him. And now he's..." she mimed a throat-slitting motion.

"Who killed him?"

"Who do you think?"

Graciela's eyes widened. "Klaus? But why?"

Hayley patted her tummy silently. Graciela deduced it was for Hope. But, had Ansel really posed a threat to her? She wanted to know.

"I'm going to go sit by the dock to read through this," said Hayley, motioning to the journal. "Try to mingle with some of the wolves. Tonight at the meeting, I'll announce that we're initiating you into the pack."